BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                           SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS 
                            AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
                             Senator Alex Padilla, Chair


          BILL NO:   AB 1752              HEARING DATE: 6/24/14
          AUTHOR:    FONG                 ANALYSIS BY:  Frances Tibon  
          Estoista
          AMENDED:   5/13/14
          FISCAL:    NO
          
                                        SUBJECT
           
          Redistricting: incumbent designation

                                      DESCRIPTION  
          
           Existing law  provides in the first election for Representative  
          in Congress, State Senator, Assemblymember, and Member of the  
          Board of Equalization (BOE) following the adjustment of  
          boundaries of districts, the candidate who is considered the  
          incumbent in the race shall be based on the following:

          a) If a candidate is running for the same office which he or she  
             holds, and is running for reelection in a district that has  
             the identical boundaries and number as the district from  
             which he or she was last elected, that person is deemed to be  
             the incumbent;

          b) If there is no candidate for which (a) applies, but there is  
             a candidate running for the same office which he or she  
             holds, and is running for reelection in a district that has  
             the identical boundaries as the district from which he or she  
             was last elected, but which has a different number, that  
             person is deemed to be the incumbent;

          c) If there is no candidate for which (a) or (b) applies, but  
             there is a candidate running for the same office which he or  
             she holds, and who is running for reelection in a district  
             that has the identical number as the district from which he  
             or she was last elected, that person is deemed to be the  
             incumbent; provided, however, that a candidate for Assembly  
             is considered the incumbent in this case only if the district  
             bearing the same number is located in the same county as the  
             district which previously bore that number;










          d) If there is no candidate for which (a), (b), or (c) applies,  
             but there is a candidate running for the same office that he  
             or she then holds, and who is running for reelection in a  
             district that contains some portion of the territory  
             previously contained within the district from which he or she  
             was last elected, that person is deemed to be the incumbent;  
             provided, however, that in a new district that contains  
             portions of the territory of more than one former district,  
             the incumbent is the candidate whose former district includes  
             the largest portion of the territory of the new district;  
             and,

          e) If there is no candidate for which (a), (b), (c), or (d)  
             applies, any candidate for the same office that he or she  
             then holds and who fulfills the residential requirements of  
             law for candidacy within the district is considered the  
             incumbent.

           Existing law  establishes the Citizens Redistricting Commission  
          (CRC), and gives it the responsibility for establishing the  
          district lines for State Senate, Assembly, Congress, and the  
          BOE.

           This bill  provides in the first election for Representative in  
          Congress, State Senator, Assemblymember, or Member of the BOE  
          following the adjustment of boundaries of districts, if more  
          than one sitting member of a governmental body is running for  
          election in a new district, the candidate who is considered the  
          "incumbent" in the new district is the candidate whose district  
          has the largest portion of the population, as determined by the  
          most recent federal decennial census, instead of the candidate  
          who is running in a district bearing the same number as the  
          district represented by the candidate, if any.

           This bill  makes conforming changes to reflect that the CRC,  
          rather than the Legislature, is responsible for adjusting the  
          boundaries of Congressional, Legislative, and BOE districts  
          following the federal decennial census.

           This bill  also makes corresponding and technical changes.

                                      BACKGROUND  
          
          Every ten years, following the completion of the Census, the  
          AB 1752 (FONG)                                                    
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          boundary lines of Legislative, Congressional, and Board of  
          Equalization districts are required to be adjusted so that all  
          the districts for the same office have approximately equal  
          populations.

          When district boundaries are adjusted, it is possible that more  
          than one sitting member of a house of the Legislature, of  
          Congress, or of the Board of Equalization, may end up in the  
          same district.  In recognition of the potential for such a  
          situation, state law contains a method for determining which  
          candidate is considered the incumbent when two or more sitting  
          members are running against each other following the adjustment  
          of boundary lines.  Under that method, if both sitting members  
          represent a portion of the new district in which they are  
          running, the member who is running for the district with the  
          same district number is considered the incumbent, and is able to  
          use the ballot designation of "Incumbent."

          When the Legislature was responsible for drawing new district  
          lines, it typically numbered districts in a manner that was  
          designed to promote continuity in district numbers, so the  
          practical effect was that the person who represented a larger  
          portion of the new district was considered the incumbent.  But  
          when the Citizens Redistricting Commission numbered districts,  
          it did so in a manner that much more strictly followed the  
          geographic placement of the districts.

















          AB 1752 (FONG)                                                    
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                                       COMMENTS  
          
            1. According to the Author  :  The purpose of allowing a  
             candidate to use the ballot designation "Incumbent" is to  
             provide information to voters about the individual who has  
             been representing them.  In light of that fact, state law  
             should give priority to the person who represents the largest  
             population from the new district, rather than the person who  
             is running in the same district number.

           AB 1752 ensures that a candidate who represents the largest  
             population in a new district following redistricting will be  
             considered the incumbent in that district.  Additionally, AB  
             1752 updates California law to reflect the fact that  
             redistricting of Legislative, Congressional, and Board of  
             Equalization districts is now carried out by the Citizens  
             Redistricting Commission.

            2. Prior Legislation  :  AB 2444 (Crown), Ch. 1238, Statutes of  
             1961, established the existing rules that are used to  
             determine incumbency after redistricting.  Those rules have  
             not been materially changed since that time.

                                     PRIOR ACTION
           
          Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee:  6-0
          Assembly Floor:                            74-0
                                           
                                      POSITIONS  

          Sponsor: Author

           Support: None received

           Oppose:  None received








          AB 1752 (FONG)                                                    
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