The goal is to stop lawmakers from drawing their own legislative district maps, which is a conflict of interest…and leads to less competition, says Republican Senator Roy Ashburn.  He’s co-author of a constitutional amendment to create a 5-person commission to draw the lines instead:

   “If you want an independent commission and you want to minimize the power of incumbent politicians, this is the vehicle to get it done.”

Democratic Senator Gloria Romero disagrees.  During a committee hearing for the bill she told the authors she took it personally:

    “Are you trying to get rid of me?  Because some folks have said that the purpose of this is to have less “ideological folks.”

Critics say the measure is a waste of time.  The authors say they’re willing to make amendments – and they’ll likely get the chance, since the bill was voted out of committee and moves on to the full Senate.