General Assembly approves bill to reapportion House, Senate, congressional districts

STATE HOUSE — The General Assembly today approved legislation to reapportion House, Senate and congressional districts.

The redistricting legislation (2022-H 7323Aaa, 2022-S 2162Aaa) was introduced by Sen. Stephen R. Archambault (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, North Providence, Johnston) and Rep. Robert D. Phillips (D-Dist. 51, Woonsocket, Cumberland), who chaired a special legislative commission to propose new district maps.

“I’m proud of the work we were able to do in the redistricting commission,” said Senator Archambault. “We were able to commit to an openness and transparency every step of the way, so that all interested parties could see what was going on at all times. That includes maintaining a web site that made all redistricting plans and census data available to the public and giving everyone access to the software that was used to redraw the maps.”

The state constitution calls for the General Assembly to reapportion its districts as well as the two congressional districts after each 10-year federal census. The revised maps, redistricting plans and census data that was used can all be found online at riredistricting.org.

“It was an honor and pleasure to work with such a dedicated group of individuals on this commission,” said Representative Phillips. “I’m particularly proud of the fact that we obtained so much input from citizens around the state, holding our meetings in several cities and towns to make it more accessible to everyone. Reapportionment can be daunting and complex, but I’m glad we took everyone’s concerns into account and came up with a fair and equitable system of reapportionment.”

The measure now moves to the governor’s office.