Perry County is not Juniata County
It seems that the new House districting lines fail to take into account the differences between both the populations and current governing connections - and lack thereof - between Perry and Juniata Counties in combining them into a single district. Perry County’s orientation is to Cumberland and Dauphin Counties, and its previous designation of Perry and Cumberland counties is practical and superior for a number of reasons. To name just a few items: - 70% of Perry County’s workforce travel to Cumberland and Dauphin Counties, while Juniata residents travel to Lewistown, State College, or Selinsgrove/Sunbury to their place of employment. - Perry County is aligned with Dauphin and Cumberland counties as part of the Tri-County Planning Commission, and we share the Rabbit Transit system. Juniata County is not involved in either of these. -Perry County shares joint housing authority AND linked prison system AND joint Children and Youth Services (not to mention various mental health services) with Cumberland County, not Juniata. -For PennDOT purposes, Perry is in district 8, which includes both Cumberland and Dauphin counties. Juniata is in district 2. For sake of brevity, I will simply summarize by noting that separating the 86th house district to simply mesh Perry and Juniata counties together - particularly when Perry county is aligned with Cumberland and Dauphin in so many other aspects of governance - seems complicated at best, and political at worst.