{"id":129,"date":"2026-06-02T21:48:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:48:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:48:52","slug":"state-leaders-stand-ready-for-a-redistricting-rumble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"State leaders stand ready for a redistricting rumble"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie struck up a defiant tone when questioned about an aggressive new constitutional amendment that would enable state lawmakers to engage in mid-decade and partisan redistricting. He wasn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n

Read more Editor\u2019s note: Goodbye to Al Sharpton\u2019s House of Justice<\/a><\/p>\n

Legislators introduced a fresh amendment overnight Monday after weeks of anticipation that would change the state constitution and enable New York to engage in the redistricting fights roiling the nation ahead of the next census \u2013 or at least in a year-and-a-half, as the amendment can\u2019t go before voters until next November at the earliest.<\/p>\n

The aggressive proposal would keep the state\u2019s Independent Redistricting Commission in place, but streamlines the process that would enable the Democratic legislative majority to act should the bipartisan commission fail to agree on single versions of state legislative and congressional maps. The amendment would also reduce the legislative vote total necessary to approve new lines from a supermajority to a simple majority. And most notably, it would remove prohibitions on gerrymandering to favor one party or candidate over another.<\/p>\n

Heastie told reporters on Tuesday that if New Yorkers do approve the amendment, he\u2019s ready to go toe-to-toe with Republicans in the gerrymandering game. \u201cI think this thing about asking New York to play fair while everybody else is playing ruthless \u2013 I think it’s not right to ask us this,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Does that mean he\u2019s willing not to play fair? \u201cI\u2019m going to play fair based on how other people play,\u201d Heastie said, referring to recent Supreme Court decisions to weaken the Civil Rights-era Voting Rights Act. The landmark decision enabled Republicans in other states to engage in extreme partisan redistricting to bulk up GOP numbers in the House at the expense of diluting Black voting power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heastie\u2019s partner in the upper chamber, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, expressed her readiness for a fight as well. \u201cWe cannot ignore the reality that Republicans have repeatedly sought to undermine democracy through various attempts to gain political advantage,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cAt a time when democracy is under attack across the country, we have a responsibility to protect all voters including the minority communities and ensure that every New Yorker continues to have a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris told City & State on Tuesday that lawmakers could debate and vote on the measure as soon as Wednesday. Unlike bills, resolutions such as a constitutional amendment do not need to age for three days before they can be voted on, so lawmakers can act on that slightly sooner than on other items introduced Monday evening.<\/p>\n

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been at the forefront of the push for Democrats to retaliate against Republicans who\u2019ve attempted to redraw their maps in other states, like North Carolina and Texas \u2013 sparking a partisan race to gerrymander and secure a critical edge in the fight for House control. Jeffries defended the proposed amendment that state lawmakers expect to pass.<\/p>\n

Read more The family members of NYC congressional candidates are getting oppo\u2019d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats promised a forceful, ongoing and multi-state response to Republican efforts to gerrymander the national congressional map and rig House elections,\u201d Jeffries said in a statement. \u201cNew York state just delivered a powerful one.\u201d He thanked the legislative leaders and Rep. Joe Morelle for pushing the issue in Albany.<\/p>\n

Jeffries also promised this amendment is \u201cjust the beginning\u201d of Democrats\u2019 plans to combat Republicans in the redistricting battle. \u201cThe Empire State will strike back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Republicans in the state held a joint press conference in the Capitol on Monday with Rep. Mike Lawler, excoriating Democrats for the party\u2019s blatant efforts to gerrymander future maps. The GOP blames Democrats for first reopening the redistricting process with a constitutional amendment that voters rejected in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fight was started here,\u201d Assembly Minority Leader Ra said. He added later, \u201cWhatever they bring out is about making New York less competitive in our congressional elections so they can squeeze (out) as many Democratic representatives as they possibly can, and that\u2019s wrong for New Yorkers, and it should be rejected by New Yorkers. And we\u2019re going to be calling that out all the way through next year where we\u2019re going to defeat it at the ballot box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Constitutional amendments require passage in two consecutive legislative sessions, so an approval this year would just be the first step. A new class of lawmakers next year will need to pass it again, before it heads to voters for final approval next November at the earliest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The amendment process excludes the governor, who has no formal part in changing the state constitution. But Gov. Kathy Hochul still signaled her strong support for the measure in a post on X Tuesday morning. \u201cThis amendment will give New Yorkers the power to fight back against attempts by Donald Trump and his allies to rig our elections,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI\u2019m proud to stand with the Legislature in this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: New York City is drowning in packaging. A bill in Albany can help.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris said lawmakers could vote on the amendment as soon as Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,82],"tags":[19,83],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-redistricting","tag-policy","tag-redistricting"],"yoast_head":"\nState leaders stand ready for a redistricting rumble - Business Relocation Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=129\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State leaders stand ready for a redistricting rumble - Business Relocation Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris said lawmakers could vote on the amendment as soon as Wednesday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/businessrelocationdigest.com\/?p=129\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Business Relocation Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T21:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=129#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=129\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3174a35dc160ba2a2c93ee7892afb9e0\"},\"headline\":\"State leaders stand ready for a redistricting rumble\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T21:48:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=129\"},\"wordCount\":870,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Policy\",\"Redistricting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\",\"Redistricting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=129#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=129\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/businessrelocationdigest.com\\\/?p=129\",\"name\":\"State leaders stand ready for a redistricting rumble - 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