SCA 3 Senate Constitutional Amendment

BILL NUMBER: SCA 3	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 4, 2006
	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
    (   Coauthor:   Senator
  Romero   ) 

                        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.   Constitution of the State, by repealing
and adding Section 1 of Article XXI thereof, relating to
redistricting. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCA 3, as amended, Lowenthal   Legislative process.
  Elections: redistricting.  
   Existing provisions of the California Constitution require that
each Member of the Senate, Assembly, Congress, and the State Board of
Equalization be elected from a single-member district.  
   This measure would require that each of the 40 Senate districts be
divided into 2 Assembly districts.  
   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
State Board of Equalization districts in accordance with specified
standards.  
   This measure would delete this provision, and would instead create
a procedure for the appointment of an independent redistricting
commission, composed of 5 members, which would be charged with
establishing congressional, Assembly, Senate, and State Board of
Equalization districts of equal population in a grid-like pattern
across the state, adjusted as necessary to accommodate various goals,
as specified.  
   This measure would provide that certain records of the Commission
are public records.  
   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 certified the plan to the Secretary of State.
The court would be required to act expeditiously on the petition. If
the plan is held to be unconstitutional, this measure would require
the court to provide relief as it deems appropriate.  
   This measure would, among other things, require the establishment
of a pool of 25 candidates for appointment to the Commission, as
nominated by a panel of 10 retired judges of the Court of Appeal,
would require the selection and appointment from this pool of 5
commission members according to a specified procedure, and would
provide for the filling vacancies on the commission.  
   This measure would require the Department of Finance to submit to
the Legislature a recommendation for estimated redistricting
expenses, to be appropriated by the Legislature by majority vote. 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 commissioners are eligible for
reimbursement of expenses pursuant to law.    
   (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    That Section 1 of Article XXI thereof is
repealed. 
       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 Section 1 is added to Article XXI thereof,
to read:
      SECTION 1.  (a) Each member of the Senate, Assembly, Congress,
and the State Board of Equalization shall be elected from a
single-member district. The territory of each Senate district
established pursuant to this section shall be divided into two
Assembly districts.
   (b) By February 28 of each year ending in the number one, a
commission to be known as the Independent Redistricting Commission
(the Commission) shall be established to provide for the
redistricting of congressional, Assembly, Senate, and State Board of
Equalization districts. The Commission shall consist of five members.
No more than two members of the Commission may be members of the
same political party. Of the four members appointed pursuant to
subdivisions (e) and (f), no two or more may reside in the same
county. Each member shall be a registered California voter who has
been continuously registered with the same political party, or
registered as unaffiliated with a political party, for three or more
years immediately preceding appointment, and 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 to, elected to, or have been a
candidate for any other public office, and may not have served as an
officer of a political party, or served as a registered paid lobbyist
or as an officer of a candidate's campaign committee.  Legislative
and congressional staff and consultants, and contractors to the
Legislature, and any person with a financial or family relationship
with 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. 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.
   (c) A panel of 10 retired judges of the Court of Appeal, appointed
by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, shall nominate
candidates for appointment to the Commission.
   (d) By January 8 of each year ending in the number one, the panel
of 10 retired judges of the Court of Appeal shall establish a pool of
qualified persons who are willing to serve on the Commission. The
pool of candidates shall consist of 25 nominees, with 10 nominees
from each of the two largest political parties in California based on
party registration, and five who are not registered with either of
the two largest political parties in California. The panel of retired
judges shall make every effort to ensure that the pool of candidates
is representative of both genders and California's racial, ethnic,
and cultural diversity.
   (e) Appointments to the Commission shall be made in the order set
forth below. No later than January 31 of each year ending in the
number one, the Speaker of the Assembly shall make one appointment to
the Commission from the pool of nominees, followed by one
appointment from the pool made in turn by each of the following: the
minority floor leader of the Assembly, the President pro Tempore of
the Senate, and the minority leader of the Senate. Each official
shall have a seven-day period in which to make an appointment. If the
appointment by the Speaker of the Assembly is not made by January
31, or any of the successive appointments is not made within a period
of seven days following the deadline for the preceding appointment,
that appointment is forfeited and shall be filled pursuant to
subdivision (f). In the event that there are two or more minority
parties within the Assembly or the Senate, the leader of the largest
minority party by statewide party registration shall make the
appointment.
   (f) Any vacancy in the four Commission positions described in
subdivision (e) 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 (c). The appointing body
shall strive for political balance and fairness in making that
appointment.
   (g) At a meeting called by the Secretary of State, the four
Commission members appointed pursuant to subdivisions (e) and (f)
shall select by majority vote from the nomination pool a fifth member
who is not registered with any party already represented on the
Commission. If the four members fail to appoint a fifth member within
15 days of that meeting, the panel of retired judges described in
subdivision (c) shall appoint from the nomination pool a fifth member
who is not registered with any party already represented on the
Commission. The fifth member, as appointed pursuant to this
subdivision, shall serve as chairperson of the Commission.
   (h) The five members of the Commission shall select by majority
vote one of their members to serve as vice chairperson.
   (i) 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.
   (j) If a member of the Commission vacates his or her term of
office prior to its completion for any reason, within the first 30
days after the vacancy occurs the panel of retired judges described
in subdivision (c) shall nominate a pool of three candidates. The
nominees shall be of the same political party membership, or
independent status, held by the vacating member at the time of his or
her appointment. The appointment of the successor member shall be
made from the pool of nominees by the person, persons, or entity
that, pursuant to subdivision (e), (f), or (g), appointed the member
vacating the office, except that a successor appointed pursuant to
subdivision (g) under these circumstances is not thereby made the
chairperson of the Commission and, in the event of that appointment,
a new chairperson shall be appointed by the remaining members. If the
appointment of a replacement member is not made within 14 days
following the presentation of the nominees, the panel of retired
judges described in subdivision (c) shall make the appointment,
striving for political balance and fairness. The newly appointed
member shall serve out the remainder of the original term.
   (k) Three members of the Commission, one of whom is the
chairperson or vice chairperson, constitute a quorum.  Three 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 48 hours' public notice of
each meeting. 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 members.
   (l) The Commission shall establish congressional, Assembly,
Senate, and State Board of Equalization districts.  The mapping
process for each of the districts shall consist initially of the
creation of districts of equal population in a grid-like pattern
across the State. The Commission shall then adjust the grid as
necessary to accommodate each of the following goals, prioritized in
the order listed:
   (1) Districts shall comply with the United States Constitution and
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1971 et seq.).

   (2) Congressional, Assembly, Senate, and State Board of
Equalization districts shall each have equal population with other
districts for the same office, to the extent practicable.
   (3) Districts shall be geographically compact and contiguous to
the extent practicable.
   (4) District boundaries shall respect communities of interest to
the extent practicable.
   (5) To the extent practicable, district lines shall use visible
geographic features, city and county boundaries, and undivided census
tracts.
   (6) To the extent practicable, competitive districts should be
favored where to do so would create no significant detriment to the
other goals listed in this subdivision.
   (m) Party registration and voting history data shall be excluded
from the initial phase of the mapping process but may be used to test
maps for compliance with subdivision (m). The places of residence of
incumbents or candidates may not be identified or considered for
purposes of this section.
   (n) The Commission shall display a draft map of congressional,
Assembly, Senate, 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
Assembly or the Senate, 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. The
Commission shall then establish final boundaries for congressional,
Assembly, Senate, and State Board of Equalization districts, and
shall certify those districts to the Secretary of State.
   (o) This section is self-executing.
   (p) In each year ending in the number nine, the Department of
Finance or its successor shall submit to the Legislature a
recommendation for an appropriation adequate to meet the estimated
expenses of the subsequent redistricting process occurring pursuant
to this section, and shall make adequate office space available for
the operation of the Commission. Notwithstanding Section 12 of
Article IV, the Legislature shall make the necessary appropriation by
bill passed by rollcall vote entered in the journal, a majority of
the membership of each house concurring.
   (q) The 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, for the purposes of this section, including legal
representation.
   (r) 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 counsel hired or selected by the Commission shall
represent the people of California in the legal defense of a
redistricting plan.
   (s) The Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction in
all proceedings in which a plan adopted by the Commission is
challenged. To challenge a redistricting plan, any affected elector
may file a petition for a writ of mandate or writ of prohibition
within 45 days after the Commission has certified the plan 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.
The Supreme Court shall act expeditiously on the petition. 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 afford
such relief as it deems appropriate.
   (t) Members of the Commission are eligible for reimbursement of
personal expenses incurred in connection with the duties performed
for the Commission pursuant to law, and a member's residence is
deemed to be the member's post of duty for purposes of reimbursement
of expenses.
   (u) The term of office of each member of the Commission expires
upon the appointment of the first member of the succeeding
Commission. The Commission may not meet or incur expenses after the
redistricting plan becomes final pursuant to subdivision (o), except
with respect to any pending litigation or government approval
concerning the plan, to revise districts if required by court order,
or if the number of congressional, Assembly, Senate, or State Board
of Equalization districts is changed.
   (v) For purposes of this section, "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.   

   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 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 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 with 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.
           (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 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
    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.
   (f) Every district shall be contiguous.
   (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.