By KPR
Frankfort, KY – Kentucky's 27th District State Senator Walter Blevins believes there should be a special session of the legislature this fall to redraw congressional State House and Senate district lines. The democrat is a member of the legislature's 2011 task force on elections.
"It can be done relatively easy in a 5-day session, if you have the right kind of plan prepared. Vote them up, vote them down, and amend them if we have to. But I truly believe we going to have one in September, October."
Blevins says it's tough to deal with redistricting while conducting the state's regular business. The legislature will have to craft a new, two-year budget when it convenes in January.
Kentucky's District 71 State Representative John Will Stacy prefers lawmakers redraw election districts during their regular session in January. He thinks that's a better deal for taxpayers. He is also a member of the state task force on elections
"I don't think really taxpayers want us to doing that when I think we can do it in a regular session. You know if we can't, maybe we can come back in another time before the election cycle and do it then."
The Kentucky legislature needs to use the latest data from the 2010 census to make sure the state's new election districts have roughly the same populations.