ALBANY – For the second year, Senator John Bonacic has introduced legislation that would create a non-partisan commission to develop a redistricting plan.

Under the Mount Hope Republican’s proposal, the commission would take the job of redistricting out of the hands of the majority party leadership of both the Senate and Assembly.

“One of the problems we have in Albany is too much power invested in the Speaker and the Majority leader and I would like to see more of the members empowered,” he said. “This would be a step in the right direction; it would be a worthy reform on redistricting if it were done in a fair and impartial way so you wouldn’t have gerrymandering in both houses.”

While he has the support of at least one Democrat, Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan, Bonacic doesn’t expect the leadership in either house – Sheldon Silver in the Assembly and Joseph Bruno in the Senate – to support the bill and allow it to move forward.

If the bill is not passed this session, “there will be no chance of having the law in place for the 2012 redistricting,” said Krueger.