The Big Island is due an eighth seat in the state House of Representatives, according to updated data provided to the state Reapportionment Commission.
The numbers, presented to the commission Monday, raised the number of nonresident military personnel and dependents to be extracted from 64,415 to 99,967, mostly on Oahu. Adding 7,250 nonresident students, also primarily on Oahu, to the number indicates Oahu should lose one House seat and Hawaii Island should gain one, said commission staffer Royce Jones.
Jones said he spent his New Year’s Eve crunching the new data that had been delivered earlier that day from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command after Reapportionment Commission staff questioned the military about the source of the old numbers, because they were so much lower than those during the 2011 reapportionment process.
“They’ve sent us the best data that they can give us,” Jones said, “so our job is to take this data and create a population base so the commission can decide what it wants to do.”
The nine-member commission immediately went into executive session to consult with its attorney following the news, emerging more than an hour later agreeing to continue the topic at its meeting Thursday.
“We needed to have a robust discussion with our attorney,” said Chairman Mark Mugiishi, indicating two issues he would like staff to research. “We will continue this discussion, take more public testimony and potentially take action.”
Mugiishi said the two issues are the question about why the same agency provided two different sets of numbers and why an Oahu census block showed more nonresidents extracted than the census actually showed lived there.
The discussion about whether Oahu would lose one of its 35 House seats to the Big Island has been ongoing since reapportionment after the 2010 census. That resulted in Oahu losing a Senate seat following changes in population and a successful lawsuit by Big Island residents to remove nonresident military families and students from the counts.
The Hawaii County Democratic Party in November asked the commission to take another look at how the nonresident military and students were extracted, saying the numbers didn’t jibe with new information the commission had already received at that time.
Barbara Dalton, county party chairwoman, was excited about the turn of events when contacted Monday evening.
“I’m thrilled to hear the Big Island is due an eighth seat,” Dalton said. “I’m very pleased about the diligence the commission and staff have exerted to get these numbers.”
Bart Dame, national committeeman for the state Democratic Party and a longtime advocate for better numbers that showed the Big Island warranted the House seat, was also pleased.
“These numbers are closely aligned with what I’ve been predicting a long time,” Dame said.
The new numbers could spell more lawsuits if the commission doesn’t change the reapportionment of House seats among the islands. Several Oahu residents testified against making changes, questioning the latest data and contending the military should be counted as residents.
“Those of us who live here are going to be negatively affected by your over-extraction,” said Oahu resident Mary Smart.
Shannon Matson, an Upper Puna resident and former House candidate, said it’s better to do the maps over now, rather than wait until the courts dictate it after lengthy litigation.
“The thought that we would have to go back to the drawing board on maps is frustrating of course … but it’s a huge win for taxpayers,” Matson said. “I urge the commission to waste no further time.”
The commission had pretty much finalized its planned map after a series of public hearings last month. The new data could mean the map would be started from scratch.
“It’s going to take lot of work to figure this out,” Jones said.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.