(BOSTON) – Last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation, An Act relative to establishing representative districts in the General Court (H 4217,) that established new political boundaries for all 160 House districts. The Third Plymouth District, represented by State Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull), will be comprised of the Towns of Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset. The district now includes all precincts in Hingham. Precinct 3 in North Scituate will be part of the Fourth Plymouth district.
After conducting and releasing the U.S. Decennial Census, Massachusetts is constitutionally mandated to change its House, Senate, Governor’s Council and Congressional district boundaries based upon the census data. These changes are meant to align districts with population shifts and provide equal representation to the Commonwealth’s citizens.
As with each redistricting cycle, public participation played an integral role in this year’s process. Residents of the Commonwealth had numerous opportunities for public participation, including options to submit written testimony to the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, to attend public hearings on redistricting, and to share opinions with local representatives.
“Every ten years, the redistricting process provides an opportunity for the redetermination of individual and community representation at local, state, and federal levels,” said Representative Meschino (D-Hull). “Though the results of this year’s process mean that I will no longer have the honor of representing residents in the North Scituate precinct, I appreciate the Committee’s efforts to keep our cities and towns together, and I look forward to representing the new precinct in Hingham.”
The Senate version of the bill will be taken up on Thursday of this week. To check for updates on this and to follow other legislation, simply create an account on malegislature.gov
