(RALEIGH) -- Republican state lawmakers heard plenty of critical comments on Monday about proposed changes to state legislative districts along with the process they used to create the new maps. The final public hearings, which were held at several locations statewide, centered on the new boundaries for state House and Senate seats.

Rep. Frank Iler, R-Brunswick, said lawmakers should not split up the coastal communities of Southport and Leland. He urged mapmakers to revise the two proposed House districts in Brunswick County to make them more geographically compact.
 
“A representative should be able to travel the district contained within a county without having to drive through another district,” said Iler.
 
In addition, several speakers called on lawmakers to reform the way redistricting is handled.  The House has already passed a bill that would put nonpartisan legislative staff in charge of drawing the new maps starting in 2020. However, Republican leaders say it’s unlikely to come up in the Senate this year.
 
“I think that they could do it later, but I think that as we move away from redistricting people forget how painful the process is,” said Jane Pinsky with the North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform.
 
Other speakers complained that the new maps aim to put ranking Democrats in Republican-leaning districts or force them to run against other incumbent lawmakers. House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and Minority Whips Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, and Deborah Ross, D-Wake, would now be “double-bunked” with members of their own party.
 
“There was an intentional decision to dilute the voices of Democratic women in these maps – no question about it,”said Ross, who would now be in the same district as Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake.
 
But Republicans defended the proposals, which he said resulted from the shift of the state’s population during the past decade. Lead mapmaker Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, called Ross’ claim “absurd.” He also criticized Democrats for not submitting any alternative plans.
 
“We’re disappointed with the fact that they didn’t participate in the process,” said Rucho. “As far as I see it, there’s no reason to complain if you didn’t take advantage of the opportunities to be active in the process.”
 
Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, said Democrats were still reviewing the maps, which were released last week.   “We do have alternatives that I anticipate will be forthcoming – either at the committee-level or on the floor,” he insisted. “
 
State lawmakers are expected to approve the new maps by the end of next week.