BILL NUMBER: SCA 3 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2006
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
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Simitian )
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Kehoe, and Soto)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Canciamilla, 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 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 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 11 members,
that would be charged with establishing 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
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, 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 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, 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 the 11 commission
members from this pool 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 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
11 members and all of the following shall apply:
(1) No more than two four members of
the commission may be members of the same political party.
(2) Of the four eight 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
two appointments to the commission from the
pool of nominees, followed by one appointment
two appointments 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 eight
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 eig ht commission members
appointed pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) shall select by
majority vote from the nomination pool a fifth member who is
three additional members who are not registered
with any party already represented on the commission. If the
four eight members fail to appoint
a fifth member one or more of the three
additional members 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 , for
those positions remaining unfilled, the additional members who are
not registered with any party already represented on the
commission. The fifth member, as One of the
three additional members appointed pursuant to this
subdivision, as selected by majority vote of the eight members
appointed pursuant to subdivision (b), shall serve as the chair
of the commission.
(e) The five 11 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 Six members of the
commission, one of whom may be the chair or vice chair, shall
constitute a quorum.
(2) Three 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.
(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). Constitution.
(B) Senate,
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.
(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) 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.