A legislative committee today held a public hearing on the make-up of proposed Congressional districts resulting from the 2020 Census. The testimony was dominated over the fate of districts that will represent Fall River and New Bedford.
Under the plan, Fall river will be represented entirely within the fourth district of Congressman Jake Auchincloss. Currently, the city is split between the fourth district and ninth district of Congressman Bill Keating. Many have asked the legislature to rework the map to position Fall River and New Bedford in the same district, the ninth.
Committee Co-Chair Representative Michael Moran says the proposed map achieves the goal of uniting Fall River into one district. He went on to say merging the two cities into one district may not hold as much benefit as some may argue within the 700,000–plus residents that make up each district.
Congressman Auchincloss and Keating are on opposite sides of the issue, so are Mayor Paul Coogan and New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. Members of Fall River’s legislative delegation are also split. Senator Michael Rodrigues says uniting the two cities makes sense, particularly within the context of the cities’ ethnic similarities of hosting the country’s largest Portuguese-American community.
State Representative Carole Fiola supports the proposed map, saying as much as Fall River and New Bedford are similar, there are enough differences to warrant each having a member of Congress dedicated to their specific needs.
Dax Crocker from the Coalition for Social Justice says there have been instances of public and private organizations from each city merging into one…And the cities should do the same within one congressional district.
The legislature may vote to approve the new congressional maps as early as next week.
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