Redistricting Reform Act of 2025

Key Points

• Every state would be required to use an independent 15-member commission to draw congressional district maps instead of letting state legislatures draw their own. States with existing qualifying commissions (and Iowa) would be exempt.
• The bill bans partisan gerrymandering by making it illegal to draw maps that favor or disfavor any political party, whether on purpose or by effect. Courts would use computer modeling and statistical analysis to check maps for unfair partisan advantage.
• Each commission must include members from the largest party, the second-largest party, and independents, with five from each group. Lobbyists, political candidates, big donors, and their immediate family members are banned from serving.
• Commissions must hold open public meetings, run public hearings before and after drafting maps, maintain a public website with all data and documents, and accept public comments. Maps must keep communities of interest together and protect minority voting rights.
• The rules would take effect starting with the 2030 census. A ban on mid-decade redistricting (redrawing maps between censuses for political gain) would apply retroactively to maps drawn after the 2020 census.
• The federal government would pay states $150,000 per congressional district to help cover the costs of setting up and running their independent commissions.