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Who Should Draw Wisconsin's Political Districts?

A bipartisan group wants the Legislative Reference Bureau, not lawmakers, to revamp political boundaries every 10 years. Leaders don't seem supportive of change.

State Republicans held the majority following the 2010 census, so they redrew Wisconsin's political districts and gave themselves an edge in legislative districts. In most prior decades, state government was divided politically, so the courts did the reapportioning.

Now, Republican Sen. Dale Schultz and Democratic Sen. Tim Cullen are crafting a bill that would assign the job to the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau. Supporters of their plan include former GOP political strategist Bill Kraus, and all insist the current system leads to gerrymandering.

However, majority leaders insist the job belongs to them.