ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Gov. Larry Hogan has vetoed a congressional redistricting reform bill he says is "phony."
The Republican governor said Monday the bill passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature is a "smoke screen." That's because it requires five other states to agree before Maryland would turn the task of drawing congressional districts over to an independent board.
Hogan was surrounded by supporters who back his plan for Maryland to act on its own to reform congressional redistricting. Hogan has repeatedly proposed taking congressional and state legislative redistricting out of the hands of the governor and state lawmakers, but the legislature has rejected his bill.
This year, the General Assembly passed legislation to only change Maryland's redistricting process, if New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina also agreed to do so.
