Too many legislative and congressional districts follow bizarre boundaries that were drawn to ensure a political party’s dominance. That gerrymandering is why the vast majority of legislative and congressional incumbents win re-election.

Republican Secretary of State Dennis Richardson created the Nonpartisan Redistricting Task Force this year to propose a more evenhanded approach. That has the Legislature’s majority Democrats worried.

Maybe they have good reason. One topic during Wednesday’s task force meeting was the decline of America’s two-party system. Progressive Party leader Dan Meek noted that 40 percent of Oregon voters are neither Republican nor Democrat, and only 8 percent of voters registered under Oregon’s “motor voter” law are signing up as Republican or Democrat.

The task force is leaning toward recommending that Oregon take redistricting out of the Legislature’s hands and turn that work over to an independent commission. The Portland City Club has recommended such a system.

Meanwhile, a math professor at Tufts University has another approach. Moon Duchin is launching a summer-school class to train mathematicians on how to testify in court about which geometric shapes legitimately make sense for a legislative district.

According to a story in The Chronicle of Higher Education about Duchin’s work, “Because of the increase in cases challenging new electoral maps, she says, there’s a need for expert witnesses who understand the mathematical concepts applicable to gerrymandering.”

The 56-minute Constitution: The Oregon Senate ended its work on four recent days by reading the U.S. Constitution aloud. Each senator took part, concluding with Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem.

Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, suggested the readings as a reminder of what the Constitution stands for. The Senate will post video of the readings online.

Senators considered reading the Oregon Constitution next, but Knopp said that would have taken seven hours.

It’s a bloated document compared with the compact federal constitution, which senators read in 56 minutes.

Two views of obstructionists: Sen. Jeff Kruse is not a fan of the state budget hearings being held around Oregon by the Legislature’s Joint Ways & Means Committee. He said the sessions, which continue this weekend in Ashland and Eugene, are designed to make Oregonians support massive tax increases.

In his constituent newsletter, the Roseburg Republican wrote about how the majority Democrats will handle the state budget: “What is likely to happen is they will bring out their plan, we will object to it, and they will call us obstructionists.”

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, in his newsletter reflected on how the majority Democrats moved quickly on their key priorities during the 2016 legislative session: “For the minority Republicans, this was too much too fast, and they did what they could to slow things down. Interestingly, there’s an interesting parallel at the national level right now, where we see Democrats in the U.S. Senate determined to do whatever they can to slow or halt the majority Republican agenda. Thinking about that helps me understand where the Rs were coming from last year.”

Predictable money: The quarterly state revenue forecast drew predictable partisan responses. Delivered Wednesday, it indicated that the Legislature will have about $100 million more to spend before July 1 and nearly $100 million more for the 2017-19 budget. Democrats welcomed the news but said tax increases remained necessary to balance the budgets without deep cuts in programs. Republicans said the good news lessened the need for tax increases.

Don’t bind the hand that taxes you: Public-employee unions successfully organized members to attend the state budget hearings, where they urged legislators to increase taxes — especially on corporations. But the approach seemed heavy-handed, and it could backfire. The testimony didn’t come across as arising from grassroots Oregonians. Neither did some intemperate comments toward legislators help the public employees’ cause.

All for one and one for all: So far, the 2017 Legislature is passing bills on a bipartisan — even unanimous — basis. That is typical for early in the session. Many of these bills are technical fixes to laws, feel-good resolutions or other non-controversial items. The tough bills come later.

An attorney general with a sense of humor: Asked during a legislative to respond to a story in Willamette Week about public records. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum quipped, “Oh, I don’t read that.”

Then she added, “I’m kidding, of course.” Her husband, Richard Meeker, is co-owner and the former publisher of Willamette Week.

A misunderstanding of civics and email: Legislators deal with state issues, but they receive lots of constituent email on federal issues. For example, some state senators were barraged with phone calls and emails urging them to vote against Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. secretary of education. Wrong Senate. Presidential nominations go before the U.S. Senate.

And here’s a frustrating twist: When Oregon legislators get email on a federal issue, it’s difficult to forward that email to most members of Oregon’s congressional delegation. Legislators tell me that four Oregon congressional offices automatically reject email forwarded from outside their districts, including the state Capitol in Salem. Fifth Congressional District Rep. Kurt Schrader represents Salem, so legislative email gets through to his office.

Will Oregon’s governor be impeached someday? Oregon is the only state that does not have a provision allowing its legislature to impeach statewide elected officials, such as the governor.

Rep. Jodi Hack, R-Salem, and House Republican Leader Mike McLane of Powell Butte have proposed House Joint Resolution 10, which asks voters to amend the Oregon Constitution and add an impeachment provision. Hack sees it as a matter of accountability.

Don’t bet on that measure making the ballot. The Oregon House supported the idea in 2015 following the resignation of Gov. J ohn Kitzhaber. But the Senate Democratic leadership remains opposed. Unlike voters in many states, Oregonians have the constitutional ability to remove a statewide elected official through a recall. Senate Democratic Leader Ginny Burdick of Portland said that suffices, and Oregon does not need impeachment.

Impeachment is the process of ordering a public official to stand trial before a legislative body, such as a state legislature for a governor or Congress for the president.

Hack’s proposal would allow the House to impeach a statewide elected official if at least three-fifths of the House members agreed. The Senate would then hold a trial. Conviction and removal from office would require a two-thirds vote by the Senate.

Dick Hughes has been covering the Oregon political scene since 1976. Contact him at TheHughesisms@Gmail.com.