BILL NUMBER: SCA 3	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 9, 2006
	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
    (   Coauthors:   Senators  
Alquist,   Kehoe,   and Soto   ) 
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Leno,   Nation,   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 repealing and
adding  Section 1 of  Article XXI thereof, relating
to redistricting.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCA 3, as amended, Lowenthal  Elections: redistricting.
   Existing provisions of the California Constitution require that
each  Member   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   that
 would be charged with establishing  congressional,
Assembly,  Senate,  Assembly, congressional,  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   redistricting 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   commission 
 ,  and would authorize an affected elector to file a
petition for a writ of mandate or prohibition within 45 days after
the  Commission   commission  certified the
plan to the Secretary of State. The  court  
California Supreme 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
  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.
   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.  
  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.

   First--    That Article XXI thereof is repealed.

   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. 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, the
Independent Redistricting Commission shall be established 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 five members and all of the
following shall apply:
   (1) No more than two members of the commission may be members of
the same political party.
   (2) Of the four commission members appointed pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2, no two or more may reside in
the same county.
   (3) Each commission member shall be a registered California voter
who has been continuously registered with the same political party,
or has been registered as unaffiliated with a political party, for
three or more 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) Within the three years immediately preceding appointment,
a commission member may not have done either of the following:
   (A) Been appointed to, elected to, or have been a candidate for
any other public office.
   (B) Served as an officer of a political party, a registered paid
lobbyist, or an officer of a candidate's campaign committee.
   (2) Legislative and congressional staff and consultants, persons
under a contract with 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.

   (3) A member of the commission shall be ineligible, during his or
her term of office, and for three years thereafter, to hold public
office in this State or to register as a paid lobbyist.
      SEC. 2.  (a) (1) A panel of 10 retired judges of the Court of
Appeal, appointed by the Judicial Council, shall nominate candidates
for appointment to the commission.
   (2) 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.
   (3) 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 5 who are not registered with
either of the two largest political parties in this State.
   (4) The panel shall make every effort to ensure that the pool of
candidates is representative of both genders and this State's racial,
ethnic, and cultural diversity.
   (b) (1) 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:
   (A) The minority floor leader of the Assembly.
   (B) The President pro Tempore of the Senate.
   (C) The minority floor leader of the Senate.
   (2) 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 (d). 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.
   (c) Any vacancy in the four 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). The panel shall strive
for political balance and fairness in making that appointment.
   (d) At a meeting called by the Secretary of State, the four
commission members appointed pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c)
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 (a) 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 the chair of the commission.
   (e) The five members of the commission shall select by majority
vote one of their members to serve as the vice chair.
   (f) 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 Section 2 shall nominate a pool of three candidates within the
first 30 days after the vacancy occurs.
   (2) The nominees 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 appointment of the
successor member shall be made from the pool of nominees by the
person, persons, or entity that, pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), or
(d) of Section 2, appointed the member vacating the office, except
that a successor appointed pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 2
under these circumstances is not thereby made the chair of the
commission and, in the event of that appointment, a new chair shall
be selected by a majority vote of the remaining members.
   (3) If the appointment of a replacement member is not made within
14 days following the presentation of the nominees, the panel
described in Section 2 shall make the appointment, striving for
political balance and fairness. The newly appointed member shall
serve out the remainder of the original term of the vacating member.

      SEC. 4.  (a) The activities of the commission are subject to
all of the following:
   (1) Three members of the commission, one of whom may be the chair
or vice chair, shall constitute a quorum.
   (2) Three 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.
   (5) Any 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
otherwise permitted by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act or its
successor.
   (b) The duties of the commission include all of the following:
   (1) To establish Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State Board
of Equalization districts based on a mapping process for each
district that shall consist initially of the creation of districts of
equal population in a gridlike pattern across the State.
   (2) To adjust the grid established pursuant to paragraph (1) as
necessary to accommodate each of the following goals, prioritized
according to the following order:
   (A) Districts shall comply with the United States Constitution and
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1971 and
following).
   (B) Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State Board of
Equalization districts shall each have equal population with other
districts for the same office, to the extent practicable.
   (C) Districts shall be geographically contiguous to the extent
practicable.
   (D) District boundaries shall respect communities of interest to
the extent practicable.
   (E) To the extent practicable, district lines shall use visible
geographic features, city and county boundaries, and undivided census
tracts.
   (F) Districts shall be geographically compact to the extent
practicable.
   (G) 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 paragraph.
   (3) 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 this subdivision. The places of
residence of incumbents or candidates may not be identified or
considered for purposes of this article.
   (4) The commission shall display a draft map 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.
   (5) The commission shall then establish final boundaries for
Senate, Assembly, congressional, and State Board of Equalization
districts, and shall certify those districts to the Secretary of
State.
      SEC. 5.  (a) 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 article, 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.
   (b) 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 article, including legal
representation.
   (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 California in the legal defense of a
redistricting plan.
   (d) (1) The California Supreme Court has original and exclusive
jurisdiction in all proceedings in which a redistricting plan adopted
by the commission is challenged.
   (2) 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.
   (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.
      SEC. 6.  (a) 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.
   (b) The commission may not meet or incur expenses after the
redistricting plan becomes final pursuant to paragraph (5) of
subdivision (b) of Section 4, 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 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.