No one knows for certain what Congressman Rob Bishop's district will look like in 2012, but everyone is certain it won't look like it does now.
The reason is simple: His district, like the other two, has too many people in it, Bishop said.
His district has to be whittled down to 690,000 people, which is the same number the other two districts have to be, Bishop said. His district currently has almost 906,000 people.
First Congressional District, which Bishop represents, includes most of Northern Utah, stretching from downtown Salt Lake City north to the Idaho border. It includes all of Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Morgan, Cache, Rich, Tooele and Summit counties, as well as portions of Salt Lake and Juab counties.
Bishop, who was involved in the redistricting efforts in 1980, 1990 and 2000, said he has heard rumors about where the possible lines will be drawn. Those rumors include dividing Davis County, eliminating Tooele County, and putting Hill Air Force Base in one district and the Utah Testing and Training Range in another district, he said.
The state's legislative interim redistricting committee has the task of redividing the state from three districts into four. All three current districts have too many people, with District 3 having the most at 275,261 too many, said state Senate President Michael Waddoups, who serves on the committee.
"Everything is still in a flux."
The committee has not made any recommendations on how to divide the three districts into four, Waddoups said.
Bishop said it boils down to numbers, and "the bottom line is, I'm going to lose part of my district."
Bishop said if he is re-elected in 2012, it could also mean that instead of just one Utah member of Congress representing three military installations -- Dugway Proving Ground, UTTR and Hill Air Force Base -- there could be two Congress members.
"With this current administration's goal to cut $33 billion a year from the military for the next two decades, it will have a spinoff impact to our military installations," Bishop said.
Fortunately, he said, "Congress does not have the same attitude, and a couple (of Congress members) could be helpful."
Bishop said he hopes Davis County can be kept whole in one district, but again, it boils down to numbers.
Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville, said, "I don't want to see Davis or Hill divided."
Barrus, a committee member, said they have not worked on a congressional map, although several maps have been suggested.
State Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he has seen from his work on the state's transportation committee what could happen to Davis County if it is split.
At one time, south Davis County was in Region 2 with Salt Lake County, and north Davis County was in Region 1 with Weber County, he said.
"It impacted how we received federal funds for transportation," Adams said.
Davis County is now in Region 1, and "we speak with one voice," Adams said.
County officials have worked for a long time to unify the county, he said.
To have two congressmen representing the county would not be his first preference.
"We'd be a small voice in a big pond."
Comments