Battle, District Lines to be Tightly Drawn

With three of the six highest-ranking members of the 83rd General Assembly from Benton and Washington counties, residents might expect to have a leg up this legislative session.

But the problem, say members of the Third Congressional District Caucus, is that the state’s northwest corner is grossly underrepresented. They want their districts shrunk and representation added when legislative boundaries are redrawn in the spring.

The matter is complicated by last year’s controversial relocation of one University of Arkansas football game from Little Rock to Fayetteville for 11 of the next 15 years. Local politicians fear that central Arkansas legislators want revenge for the lost revenue.

So the Chambers of Commerce in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs have retained Rogers attorney David Matthews to make sure Northwest Arkansas gets a fair shake in redistricting. Matthews said he would sue the state Board of Apportionment if it did not redistrict within the Arkansas Constitution’s limits.

“I have every confidence [the board] will do this in a nonpartisan, fair way,” said Matthews, a longtime Democrat. “But it’s very important for them to consider not only the growth we’ve had, but the growth we’re still having.”

Millions of dollars are at stake for local industries. The 13 legislators whose districts cross the two counties are either considering or sponsoring numerous bills involving research funding for the University of Arkansas, Highway Commission appointments, and access fees for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill.

Current legislative districts were drawn in 1991 on the basis of the 1990 Census. The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission estimated in 1999 that the two-county population had increased 36 percent — from 210,908 in 1991 to 287,745. And that doesn’t include last year’s estimated 3.9 percent increase.

State Rep. David Hausam, R-Bentonville, is chairman of the northwest caucus and is the second-highest-ranking member of the House. He said the area should already have “at least one additional senator and probably two to three more representatives.”

Arkansas has 35 senators and 100 representatives.

Nothing will be done in time for this session. The Board of Apportionment — made of up Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, and two Democrats in Attorney General Mark Pryor and Secretary of State Sharon Priest — will redistrict the state after all 2000 Census figures are available in mid-March. A final plan is likely by the fall.

So far, the only Arkansas census data released show that the state grew an overall 13.7 percent, to 2,673,400. Priest said that means that the ideal Senate districts would each take in 76,383 residents and the House districts 26,734.

There is a 10 percent variance that could make districts slightly larger or smaller than their actual populations.

Hausam said the board should use the allowance to err on the high side in Benton and Washington counties, since the Regional Planning Commission estimates a two-county population as high as 338,647 by 2005.

“Our growth rate is such that if we don’t plan ahead, we’re going to be underrepresented again in four or five years,” Hausam said.

Priest said she didn’t think the board could legally base districts on potential population. But she said Northwest Arkansas had obviously gained in population while the southeast and southwest corners of the state had lost in population or, in some spots, merely shifted population.

The fear has been that Priest and Pryor will fight to keep old Democratic power bases in south and east Arkansas intact by drawing in 5 percent more of their populations and shorting Northwest Arkansas’ Republican strongholds by 5 percent.

Huckabee spokesman Rex Nelson said the governor was optimistic that the board would create districts that make sense rather than political hay.

“The governor is taking this seriously,” Nelson said. “We want the districts to make sense not just for population, but geographically. I think it’s crucial for all three officials that the lines be drawn fairly.”

Huckabee and Pryor are expected to run for re-election in 2002. Priest is ousted by term limits in two years but could run for another office. The first General Assembly under the new districting plan will convene in January 2003.

“People think Mark and I are going to gang up on the governor, and I don’t think that’s a fair assessment,” Priest said. “I’ve heard all sorts of things that we’ve supposedly already decided to do, and all of it is just false.”

State Sen. David Malone, D-Fayetteville, said the key this time would be to monitor the initial drafts to make sure arrangements are reasonable. Although Malone said partisan politics “could creep in” for some districts, he foresees no problems back home.

“I’ll say it like David Matthews, who is a longtime Democrat, did,” Malone said. “I’d rather see a Republican representative in a district up here than no representative at all.”

State Reps. Bill Pritchard, R-Elkins; Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers; Shirley Bornhauer, R-Bella Vista; and Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, all echoed Malone’s sentiment. Pritchard said they planned to speak with a united and loud voice if Northwest Arkansas doesn’t get its due representation.