supporting house and questionning senate split

Dear Dear Chairman Nordenberg, Representative Benninghoff, and Legislative Reapportionment Commissioners, We appreciate the work you are doing, during these fraught and polarized times, to support democracy in the Commonwealth. We are the Social Action Committee of Congregation Brit Shalom, one of the larger synagogues in Central Pennsylvania’s Jewish community. We wish to support the LRC’s proposal to create a new, more competitive House district (HD-82) because it will better recognize the demographics of our region than the current gerrymandered boundaries. You can understand why your Jewish constituents are so sensitive to the politics of inclusion and exclusion. All of us, from earliest childhood, have kept close the Passover seder’s unforgettable reference to Exodus 23: “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the Land of Egypt.” Our faith calls on us to advocate for legislative boundaries that allow a voice for all Pennsylvanians, especially marginalized groups and racial minorities. Thanks to the five of you for making the necessary compromises to develop the prospective House map. We are, however, concerned about the proposed Senate map. We understand and support the guiding principles behind reapportionment as striving for compactness and minimizing splits of communities unless there are strong reasons to deviate from these principles. What greater good comes from splitting the State College Area School District between Senate #25 and #35? The proposed map divides a community (SCASD) and dilutes the voice of that community by grouping it instead with communities which have quite different partisan and demographic characteristics. Why cannot all of the SCASD be put into Senate #25? Your continued diligence to these concerns is much appreciated by our community. David Post Emily Fogel Conway Lindsay Walsh Richard Kalin Ezra Nanes Naomi Altman Rob Gleisser