BILL NUMBER: SCA 10 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
(Principal coauthors: Senators Alquist and Simitian)
(Coauthors: Senators Kehoe, Scott, Steinberg, and Torlakson)
APRIL 23, 2007
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by repealing and
adding Article XXI thereof, relating to redistricting.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 10, as introduced, Lowenthal. Election: redistricting.
The California Constitution requires the Legislature, in the year
following the year in which the federal census is taken at the
beginning of each decade, to adjust the boundary lines of the state
Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State Board of Equalization
districts in accordance with specified standards.
This measure would delete these requirements, and would instead
create a procedure for the appointment of an independent
redistricting commission, composed of 11 members, that would be
charged with establishing Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State
Board of Equalization districts in accordance with designated goals
prioritized in a specified order.
This measure would provide that certain records of the
redistricting commission are public records and would require the
commission to hold public hearings.
This measure would grant the California Supreme Court original and
exclusive jurisdiction over all challenges to a redistricting plan
adopted by the commission, and would authorize an affected elector to
file a petition for a writ of mandate or prohibition within 45 days
after the commission has certified the plan to the Secretary of
State. The California Supreme Court would be required to act
expeditiously on the petition. If the plan is held to violate the
California Constitution, the United States Constitution, or any
federal statute, this measure would require the court to provide
relief as it deems appropriate to remedy that violation and to
otherwise accomplish the purposes of this measure.
This measure would, among other things, require the establishment
of a pool of 55 candidates for appointment to the commission, as
nominated by a panel of 10 retired superior court judges or judges of
the Court of Appeal appointed by the Judicial Council, would require
the selection and appointment of the 11 commission members from this
pool by officers of the Senate and Assembly and by the Fair
Political Practices Commission, and would provide for the filling of
vacancies on the commission.
This measure would require the Governor in 2009, and annually
thereafter, to include in the Governor's Budget submitted to the
Legislature an amount of funding sufficient to meet the estimated
redistricting expenses, and would require that the necessary
appropriation be made in the annual Budget Act. It would authorize
the commission to contract and to hire staff and consultants,
including legal representation, for purposes of this measure. It
would provide that the panelists and commissioners are eligible for
reimbursement of expenses pursuant to law.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2007-08 Regular Session
commencing on the fourth day of December 2006, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- That Article XXI thereof is repealed.
ARTICLE XXI
REAPPORTIONMENT OF SENATE, ASSEMBLY, CONGRESSIONAL, AND BOARD OF
EQUALIZATION DISTRICTS
SECTION 1. In the year following the year in which the
national census is taken under the direction of Congress at the
beginning of each decade, the Legislature shall adjust the boundary
lines of the Senatorial, Assembly, Congressional, and Board of
Equalization districts in conformance with the following standards:
(a) Each member of the Senate, Assembly, Congress, and the Board
of Equalization shall be elected from a single-member district.
(b) The population of all districts of a particular type shall be
reasonably equal.
(c) Every district shall be contiguous.
(d) Districts of each type shall be numbered consecutively
commencing at the northern boundary of the State and ending at the
southern boundary.
(e) The geographical integrity of any city, county, or city and
county, or of any geographical region shall be respected to the
extent possible without violating the requirements of any other
subdivision of this section.
Second-- That Article XXI is added thereto, to read:
ARTICLE XXI
Reapportionment of Senate, Assembly, Congressional, and State Board
of Equalization Districts
SECTION 1. (a) Each member of the Senate, Assembly, Congress,
and the State Board of Equalization shall be elected from a
single-member district.
(b) By February 28 of each year ending in the number one, the
Independent Redistricting Commission shall be established pursuant to
this article to provide for the redistricting of Senate, Assembly,
congressional, and State Board of Equalization districts. As used in
this article, "commission" means the Independent Redistricting
Commission.
(c) The commission shall consist of 11 members, and all of the
following shall apply:
(1) No more than four members of the commission may be members of
the same political party.
(2) Of the eight commission members appointed pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2, no more than two may reside in
the same county.
(3) Each commission member shall be registered to vote in this
state, and shall have been continuously registered with the same
political party, or as unaffiliated with a political party, for not
less than three years immediately preceding appointment.
(4) Each commission member shall commit to applying this article
in an honest, independent, and impartial fashion, and to upholding
public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
(d) (1) A person is not eligible to serve on the commission if,
within the three years immediately preceding the date of the
appointment, the person, or a member of his or her immediate family,
has done any of the following:
(A) Been appointed or elected to, or have been a candidate for,
any other public office.
(B) Served as an officer of a political party, or as an officer,
employee, or paid consultant of a campaign committee of a candidate
for elective public office.
(C) Been a registered lobbyist, an employee of, or a paid
consultant to, a registered lobbyist.
(2) Legislative and congressional staff and consultants, persons
under a contract with the Legislature, and any person who has
contributed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more to, has a
financial relationship with, or is an immediate family member of, the
Governor, a Member of the Legislature, a Member of Congress, or a
member of the State Board of Equalization are not eligible to serve
as members of the commission.
(3) A member of the commission shall be ineligible, during his or
her term of office, and for three years thereafter, to hold elective
public office in this State or to register as a lobbyist.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, a member of a person's
"immediate family" is one with whom the person has a bona fide
relationship established through blood or legal relation, including,
but not limited to, parents, children, siblings, and in-laws.
SEC. 2. (a) (1) The Judicial Council, panelists, Members of
the Legislature, and the Fair Political Practices Commission, or its
successor agency, shall work to ensure that the panelists, pool of
candidates, and commissioners, as applicable, are representative of
this State's racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic, and gender
diversity.
(2) A panel of 10 retired superior court judges or judges of the
Court of Appeal, appointed by the Judicial Council, shall nominate
candidates for appointment to the commission. The Judicial Council
shall adopt rules and procedures for appointing qualified panelists
and for selecting alternates in the event that a panelist is unable
to carry out his or her duties.
(3) Of the 10 panelists, five shall be registered voters
affiliated with each of the two largest political parties in
California based on party registration.
(4) Each panelist shall be a registered voter in this State who
has been continuously registered with the same political party for
not less than three years immediately preceding his or her
appointment.
(5) By January 8 of each year ending in the number one, the panel
shall establish a pool of qualified persons who are willing to serve
on the commission, and submit a list of the names of those persons to
the President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Minority Floor Leader
of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Minority Floor Leader
of the Assembly, and the Fair Political Practices Commission or its
successor agency.
(6) The pool of candidates shall consist of 55 nominees, with 20
nominees from each of the two largest political parties in California
based on party registration, and 15 who are not registered with
either of those two political parties.
(b) (1) No later than January 31 of each year ending in the number
one, the President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Minority Floor
Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly and the Minority
Floor Leader of the Assembly may each strike from the pool of
candidates up to two candidates. Each legislative leader shall, in
the following order, appoint to the commission from the remaining
candidates in the pool two candidates who are registered with the
same political party as that legislative leader:
(A) The President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(B) The Minority Floor Leader of the Senate.
(C) The Speaker of the Assembly.
(D) The Minority Floor Leader of the Assembly.
(2) The Fair Political Practices Commission, or its successor
agency, shall appoint three persons, by random selection from the
pool of candidates, who are not registered with either of the two
largest political parties in this State, under a process that is open
to public disclosure.
(c) Any vacancy in the 11 commission positions described in
subdivision (b) that remains as of March 1 of a year ending in the
number one shall be filled from the pool of nominees by the panel of
retired judges described in subdivision (a).
(d) The 11 members of the commission shall, by affirmative vote of
six or more members, select one of the three members appointed
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) to serve as the chair of
the commission.
(e) The term of office of each member of the commission expires
upon the appointment of the first member of the succeeding
commission.
SEC. 3. (a) After having been served written notice and
provided with an opportunity for a response, a member of the
commission may be removed by the Governor, with the concurrence of
two-thirds of the Senate, for substantial neglect of duty, gross
misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office.
(b) (1) If a member of the commission vacates his or her office or
is removed pursuant to subdivision (a) prior to the completion of
his or her term for any reason, the panel of retired judges described
in subdivision (a) of Section 2 shall fill the vacancy from the pool
of nominees selected pursuant to that subdivision within the first
30 days after the vacancy occurs.
(2) The nominee chosen shall be of the same political party
membership or nonpartisan status, as the case may be, held by the
vacating member at the time of his or her appointment. The panel
shall work to ensure diversity and fairness in filling that vacancy.
If the vacating member was the chair of the commission, the
commission shall select a new chair.
(3) The newly appointed member shall serve the remainder of the
original term of the vacating member.
SEC. 4. (a) The activities of the commission shall be subject
to all of the following:
(1) Six members of the commission, one of whom may be the chair or
vice chair, shall constitute a quorum.
(2) Six or more affirmative votes shall be required for any
official action.
(3) The commission shall comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code), or its successor. The commission
shall provide not less than 14 days' public notice for each meeting.
(4) The records of the commission pertaining to redistricting and
all data considered by the commission are public records, open to
inspection by members of the public upon request, except that the
commission may withhold from public inspection preliminary drafts,
notes, and communications between commission members, staff, and
consultants.
(5) Written or verbal communication with any commission member
outside of a public hearing, other than by staff or by legal counsel,
is prohibited as to any matter on which the commission is required
to meet pursuant to paragraph (3). This paragraph does not prohibit
any communication between commission members that is permitted by the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act or its successor outside of a public
hearing.
(b) The duties of the commission shall include all of the
following:
(1) Establishing Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State Board
of Equalization districts pursuant to a mapping process for each
district in accordance with the goals specified in paragraph (2).
(2) Establishing districts pursuant to paragraph (1) as necessary
to achieve each of the following goals, prioritized according to the
following order:
(A) Congressional districts shall each have equal population with
other districts for the same office in compliance with the United
States Constitution. Senate, Assembly, and State Board of
Equalization districts shall each have equal population with other
districts for the same office, to the extent practicable, in
compliance with the United States Constitution.
(B) Districts shall comply with the federal Voting Rights Act of
1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1971 and following).
(C) Districts shall be geographically contiguous to the extent
practicable.
(D) District boundaries shall respect communities of interest to
the extent practicable.
(E) District lines shall use visible geographic features and city
and county boundaries to the extent practicable.
(F) Districts shall be geographically compact to the extent
practicable.
(c) (1) The commission shall establish and implement an open and
noticed hearing process for public input and deliberation. The public
hearing process shall include at least the following three stages:
(A) hearings to receive public input before the commission draws any
maps; (B) hearings following each drawing and display of proposed
maps; and (C) hearings following the drawing and display of the
proposed final maps.
(2) The commission shall propose and implement a plan to provide
the public access to United States census data and to make software
available to the public for drawing maps and providing input through
the public hearing process. At the first two stages, the commission
shall display the maps created pursuant to subdivision (b) of Senate,
Assembly, congressional, and State Board of Equalization districts
to the public for comment, in a manner designed to achieve the widest
public dissemination reasonably possible, and public comment shall
be taken for at least 30 days from the date of public display. Either
the Senate or the Assembly, or both, may act within this period to
make recommendations to the commission by majority or by minority
report, which recommendations shall be considered by the commission.
(d) The commission shall, after consideration of public comments
and recommendations made by the Senate or Assembly pursuant to
subdivision (c), and having made every effort to draw the proposed
maps in compliance with the goals listed in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b), establish the boundaries of the final maps for
Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State Board of Equalization
districts, and shall certify those districts to the Secretary of
State. The approval of the final boundaries shall be by majority vote
of the membership of the commission, and requires that one or more
votes for approval be cast by members of the commission registered
with each of the two largest political parties in California based on
party registration, and that one or more votes for approval be cast
by members of the commission who are not registered with either of
these two political parties.
(e) The commission shall issue, with its final plan, a report that
explains the basis on which the commission made its decisions in
achieving compliance with the goals listed in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b), particularly where compliance with one goal resulted
in less than full compliance with another. The report shall define
or describe, as applicable, the terms and standards used in drawing
the maps.
SEC. 5. (a) In 2009, and annually thereafter, the Governor
shall include in the Governor's Budget submitted to the Legislature
pursuant to Section 12 of Article IV an amount of funding sufficient
to meet the estimated expenses of the subsequent redistricting
process occurring pursuant to this article, and shall make adequate
office space available for the operation of the panel and commission.
The necessary appropriation for this purpose shall be made in the
annual Budget Act.
(b) The panel and commission, with fiscal oversight from the
Department of Finance or its successor, shall have procurement and
contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants, exempt from
the civil service requirements of Article VII, for the purposes of
this article, including legal representation. The commission shall
establish criteria for the hiring and removal of staff and
consultants, and may apply the provisions of subdivision (d) of
Section 1 to the hiring of staff and consultants to the extent
practicable.
(c) The commission has standing in legal actions regarding a
redistricting plan and to establish whether funds or other resources
provided for the operation of the commission are adequate. The
commission has sole authority to determine whether the Attorney
General, or legal counsel hired or selected by the commission, shall
represent the people of the State in the legal defense of a
redistricting plan.
(d) (1) The California Supreme Court has original and exclusive
jurisdiction in all proceedings in which the validity or
interpretation of a redistricting plan adopted by the commission is
at issue.
(2) Any affected elector may file a petition for a writ of mandate
or a writ of prohibition to challenge a redistricting plan, within
45 days after the plan has been certified by the commission to the
Secretary of State, to bar the Secretary of State from implementing
the plan on the grounds that the filed plan violates this
Constitution, the United States Constitution, or any federal statute.
(3) The court shall act expeditiously on the petition. If the
court determines that a redistricting plan adopted by the commission
violates this Constitution, the United States Constitution, or any
federal statute, the court shall fashion the relief that it deems
appropriate to remedy that violation and otherwise accomplish the
purposes of this article.
SEC. 6. (a) Members of the panel and the commission are
eligible for reimbursement of personal expenses incurred in
connection with the duties performed for the commission pursuant to
law. For purposes of the reimbursement of expenses, a member's
residence is deemed to be the member's post of duty.
(b) The commission may not meet or incur expenses after the
redistricting plan becomes final pursuant to subdivision (d) of
Section 4, except with respect to any pending litigation or approval
by the federal government concerning the plan, to revise districts if
required by court order, or if the number of Senate, Assembly,
congressional, or State Board of Equalization districts is changed.
(c) For purposes of this article, "day" means a calendar day,
except that if the final day of a period within which an act is to be
performed is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the period is extended
to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday.
(d) This article is self-executing.