BILL NUMBER: SCA 3	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 6, 2005
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 5, 2005
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 27, 2005
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 13, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Lowenthal and Ashburn
    (   Principal coauthor: 
 Senator   Simitian   )

   (  Coauthors:   Senators 
 Alquist,     Kehoe,
    Scott,  
  and Soto   Coauthor:  
Senator   Romero  )
    (   Coauthors:  
Assembly Members  Benoit,  
  Harman,     and
Wolk   ) 

                        DECEMBER 6, 2004

   A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 12
of, and adding Sections 23 and 24 to, Article IV thereof, and by
amending Section 1 of Article XXI thereof, relating to the
Legislature.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCA 3, as amended, Lowenthal.  Legislative process.
   (1) The California Constitution specifies various procedures for
the operation of the Senate and the Assembly.
   This measure would require each Member of the Legislature to
conduct at least 2 town hall meetings each calendar year within the
district he or she represents to discuss legislative issues.
   (2) Existing provisions of the California Constitution require the
Governor to submit annually to the Legislature a budget for the
ensuing year, and prescribe a date by which the Legislature must pass
a Budget Bill, as specified.
   This measure would prohibit the Senate or the Assembly from
commencing a summer recess until the Budget Bill has been passed.
   (3) Existing provisions of the California Constitution require 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
Board of Equalization districts in accordance with specified
standards.
   This measure would establish the Citizen's Commission on
Boundaries and Accountability, composed of 7 members selected as
specified, who would each serve a 3-year term. This measure would
require the commission to adopt redistricting plans for
congressional, Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization districts
of equal population, as specified.
   This measure would also require the commission to make
recommendations to improve existing legislative procedures, including
enhancing access to legislative records, and would require, except
as specified, that the records of the commission be open to public
inspection.
   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 2005-06 Regular Session
commencing on the sixth day of December 2004, 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—
   (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the people of the
State of California have expressed their desire that the Legislature
take steps to enhance government responsiveness, restore trust
through transparency, and eliminate barriers to access and
participation.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this Constitutional
Revision will accomplish these goals by creating an impartial and
independent Citizen's Commission on Boundaries and Accountability.
   (c) It is the intent of the Legislature that this commission 
establish and  adopt plans  to adjust the boundary lines
of   for  the Senatorial, Assembly, congressional,
and Board of Equalization districts in conformance with objective
and impartial criteria.
   (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that this commission also
review and make recommendations regarding legislative procedures and
enhancing access to legislative records.
   (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that this Constitutional
Revision further accomplish these stated goals by requiring all of
the following:
   (1) Each Member of the Legislature shall conduct at least two town
hall meetings in his or her district each calendar year.
   (2) The Senate and the Assembly shall approve the Budget Bill
before adjourning for summer recess.
  Second—  That Section 12 of Article IV thereof is amended to
read:
      SEC. 12.
   (a) Within the first 10 days of each calendar year, the Governor
shall submit to the Legislature, with an explanatory message, a
budget for the ensuing fiscal year containing itemized statements for
recommended state expenditures and estimated state revenues. If
recommended expenditures exceed estimated revenues, the Governor
shall recommend the sources from which the additional revenues should
be provided.
   (b) The Governor and the Governor-elect may require a state
agency, officer, or employee to furnish whatever information is
deemed necessary to prepare the budget.
   (c) (1) The budget shall be accompanied by a budget bill itemizing
recommended expenditures.
   (2) The budget bill shall be introduced immediately in each house
by the persons chairing the committees that consider the budget.
   (3) The Legislature shall pass the budget bill by midnight on June
15 of each year.
   (4) Until the budget bill has been enacted, the Legislature shall
not send to the Governor for consideration any bill appropriating
funds for expenditure during the fiscal year for which the budget
bill is to be enacted, except emergency bills recommended by the
Governor or appropriations for the salaries and expenses of the
Legislature.
   (d) No bill except the budget bill may contain more than one item
of appropriation, and that for one certain, expressed purpose.
Appropriations from the General Fund of the State, except
appropriations for the public schools, are void unless passed in each
house by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the
membership concurring.
   (e) The Legislature may control the submission, approval, and
enforcement of budgets and the filing of claims for all state
agencies.
   (f) For the 2004-05 fiscal year, or any subsequent fiscal year,
the Legislature may not send to the Governor for consideration, nor
may the Governor sign into law, a budget bill that would appropriate
from the General Fund, for that fiscal year, a total amount that,
when combined with all appropriations from the General Fund for that
fiscal year made as of the date of the budget bill's passage, and the
amount of any General Fund moneys transferred to the Budget
Stabilization Account for that fiscal year pursuant to Section 20 of
Article XVI, exceeds General Fund revenues for that fiscal year
estimated as of the date of the budget bill's passage. That estimate
of General Fund revenues shall be set forth in the budget bill passed
by the Legislature.
   (g) (1) The Senate may not commence a summer recess until the
budget bill has been passed by the Senate.
   (2) The Assembly may not commence a summer recess until the budget
bill has been passed by the Assembly.
   (3) For purposes of this subdivision, the passage of the budget
bill is deemed to occur when a bill is passed by that house that
makes appropriations for the support of the government of the State
for the entire fiscal year.
  Third—  That Section 23 is added to Article IV thereof, to
read:
      SEC. 23.
   (a) The Citizen's Commission on Boundaries and Accountability is
hereby established. The commission shall establish and adopt plans
for congressional, Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization
districts as specified by Article XXI. The commission also shall
assess existing legislative procedures, and adopt resolutions making
recommendations to improve those procedures, including enhancing
access to legislative records. Each member shall serve a term of
three years. All members shall be appointed between January 1, 2010,
and July 1, 2010, and, thereafter, on or before July 1 of each year
ending in a zero.
   (b) The commission shall consist of seven members. No two or more
members may reside in the same county. Each member shall be a
California voter who has been continuously registered with the same
political party, or has not been registered with any political party,
for three or more years immediately preceding appointment. Each
member shall commit to applying this section in an honest,
independent, and impartial fashion and to upholding public confidence
in the integrity of the redistricting process. Within the three
years immediately preceding appointment, a member may not have been
appointed or elected to, or have been a candidate for, any public
office  other than school district governing board member or
other officer of a school district or county office of education,
 and may not have served as an officer of a political party,
as a registered paid lobbyist, or as an officer of a candidate's
campaign committee.   Legislative and congressional staff,
consultants and contractors to   the Legislature, and any
person wit   h a financial or family relationship with a
Member of the Legislature, Member of Congress, or member of the Board
of Equalization is not eligible to serve as members of the
commission. A member of the commission shall be ineligible, during
his or her term of office, and for three years thereafter, for public
office in this State and for registration as a paid lobbyist. 
The appointments made pursuant to paragraphs (6) and (7) of
subdivision (c) shall not result in the commission having more than
three members affiliated with the same political party.
   (c) Each of the following may, in the order listed below, appoint
one member to the commission:
   (1) The Governor.
   (2) The President pro Tempore of the Senate.
   (3) The Speaker of the Assembly.
   (4) The Senate Minority Leader.
   (5) The Assembly Minority Leader.
   (6) The California Judicial Council.
   (7) The President of the University of California.
   (d) The appointing authorities shall make every effort to ensure
that the members of the commission are representative of California's
racial, ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity.
   (e) The members of the commission shall select by majority vote
one of their members to serve as chairperson and one of their members
to serve as vice chairperson.
   (f) After having been served written notice and provided with an
opportunity for a response, a member may be removed by the Governor,
with the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate by rollcall vote
entered into the journal, for substantial neglect of duty, gross
misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office.

   (g) If a member vacates his or her office for any reason prior to
completion of the term, the appointing authority shall, within 30
days of the vacancy, and subject to the conditions set forth in
subdivision (b), appoint a new member to fill the vacancy. The
appointee shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term.
   (h) Four members, one of whom is the chairperson or vice
chairperson, constitute a quorum. Four or more affirmative votes are
required for any official action. The commission shall conduct
business only in meetings open to the public, and shall provide not
less than four days' public notice of each meeting, except that
closed sessions may be held solely for any of the following purposes:

   (1) To consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of
performance, or dismissal of a public officer or employee, to
consider or hear complaints or charges brought against a member of
the commission or other public officer or employee, or to establish
the classification or compensation of an employee of the commission.

   (2) To confer with, or receive advice from, its legal counsel.
   (i) (1) Expenses for the commission shall be paid for out of the
operating funds of the Senate and Assembly  , except that the
amount appropriated for the commission's expenses shall not exceed
40 percent of the amount expended by the Legislature in creating the
2001 district boundaries, as determined by the Legislative Analyst
and adjusted decennially by the California Consumer Price Index.
  . 
   (2) For purposes of this subdivision, expenses include the costs
of member travel, per diem, staff, counsel, office space, and any
activities necessary to perform the work of the commission.
   (j) The records of the commission 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 members.
   (k) The Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction in
all proceedings where a plan adopted by the commission is challenged.
To challenge a redistricting plan, a resident of a challenged
district shall commence an action for injunctive or other relief
within 45 days after the commission has certified the district to the
Secretary of State. The Supreme Court shall rule on any challenge
within 90 days after an action challenging a redistricting plan is
commenced. If the Supreme Court determines that a redistricting plan
adopted by the commission violates this Constitution, the United
States Constitution, or any federal statute, the Supreme Court shall,
within 90 days, prepare and adopt a revised redistricting plan in
accordance with the standards set forth in this section.
   (l) The provisions of this section are self-executing.
  Fourth—  That Section 24 is added to Article IV thereof, to
read:
      SEC. 24.
   (a) Each Member of the Legislature shall conduct at least two town
hall meetings each calendar year within the district he or she
represents.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "town hall meeting" is a
publicly noticed meeting that a Member of the Senate or Assembly
invites his or her constituents to attend to discuss legislative
issues.
  Fifth—  That Section 1 of Article XXI thereof is amended to
read:
      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 Citizen's Commission on Boundaries and Accountability
shall  adopt plans to adjust the boundary lines of 
 establish and adopt plans for  the Senatorial, Assembly,
congressional, and Board of Equalization districts. The redistricting
plans adopted shall be in conformance with the following standards
and prioritized in the following order:
   (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 
may not deviate from the following limitations:  
   (1) Plus or minus one person for each Senate, congressional, and
Board of Equalization district. 
   (2)     Plus or minus
seven persons for each Assembly district.   shall be as
equal as practicable provided that the population deviation between
districts do not exceed federal constitutional standards. 
   (c) Districts shall comply with the Constitution of the United
States and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1971
et seq.).  
   (d) Districts shall be geographically compact to the extent
practicable and must reflect communities of interest.   
   (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.   
   (d) 
    (f)    Every district shall be contiguous.

   (e) 
    (g)    Districts of each type shall be numbered
consecutively commencing at the northern boundary of the State and
ending at the southern boundary, except that any Senate district that
contains 60 percent or more of population of an area previously
assigned an odd district number shall be assigned an odd number
regardless of geographic location, and any district that contains 60
percent or more of population of an area previously assigned an even
district number shall be assigned an even number regardless of
geographic location.  
   (f) 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.  
   (g) Districts shall be geographically compact to the extent
practicable and must reflect geographic communities of interest.

    ____ CORRECTIONS  Heading - Page 1.
                                 ____