Redistricting reform advocates renewed their call this week for Indiana legislators to act. But the Senate Elections Committee chair wants to have a slightly different conversation.

House and Senate lawmakers of both parties have bills this session to establish an independent redistricting commission to draw Indiana’s legislative maps – similar to bills that have been filed for years.

Senate Elections Committee Chair Greg Walker (R-Columbus) says he’s filed a different kind of redistricting bill. His would define what he calls the “criteria” of redistricting – prioritizing, he says, what map makers must consider when drawing district boundaries.

“How do we know when we have a good map and when we have a poor map if we don’t have a criteria by which to judge that?” Walker says.

Criteria in Walker’s bill include population size and keeping counties, cities, and towns intact whenever possible.