Reacting to the loss of a single congressional seat following the 2000 census, the state Senate approved a bill today that would leave Milwaukee without two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in more than 100 years.
Wisconsin will now have eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, instead of nine, due to the fact that the state's population has not grown as quickly as others.
The Senate passed the plan, which had already gained Assembly approval last month, on a 26-7 vote, with a few Senators feeling disgruntled over the impact the redistricting will have on minorities.
If Gov. Scott McCallum does not take action on the redistricting bill by April 2, a federal judicial panel is scheduled to meet to redraw Wisconsin's congressional maps themselves.
