BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |SB 958 |Hearing |4/20/16 |
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|Author: |Lara |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |2/8/16 |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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County of Los Angeles Citizens Redistricting Commission
Creates a citizens redistricting commission to adjust the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors' district boundaries after
each decennial federal census.
Background
State law requires the board of supervisors of each county,
following each decennial federal census, and using that census
as a basis, to adjust the boundaries of any or all of the
supervisorial districts of the county so that the districts are
as nearly equal in populations possible be and comply with the
applicable provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA), as
amended. A board of supervisors, when adjusting the boundaries
of supervisorial districts, may give consideration to:
topography, geography, communities of interests, and
cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of
territory.
A board of supervisors must hold at least one public hearing on
any proposal to adjust the boundaries of a supervisorial
district before the public hearing at which the board votes to
approve or defeat the proposal.
In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 11 which amended
the California Constitution to transfer the power to redraw
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electoral district boundaries for seats in the state legislature
to an independent 14-member citizen's redistricting commission.
State law allows a county board of supervisors, following a
decennial federal census, to appoint an advisory committee,
comprised of county residents, to study and make recommendations
on changes to supervisorial boundaries (SB 407, Bradley, 1970).
However, because the California Constitution specifically says
that "Charter counties are subject to statutes that relate to
apportioning population of governing body districts," charter
counties can't create citizens redistricting commissions to
redraw supervisorial districts unless state law is amended to
specifically authorize them to do so.
In 2012, at the request of San Diego County officials, the
Legislature passed a bill to establish a redistricting
commission in San Diego County and charge it with adjusting the
boundaries of supervisorial districts after each decennial
federal census (SB 1331, Kehoe, 2012). The San Diego County
redistricting commission is comprised of five former or retired
state or federal judges who are residents and voters in the
county. The commission members are picked from among qualified
applicants through a random drawing.
Some elected officials want the Legislature to enact similar
legislation to create a citizens redistricting commission to
redraw Los Angeles County's supervisorial districts after each
decennial federal census.
Proposed Law
Redistricting commission formation . Senate Bill 958 establishes,
in the County of Los Angeles, a Citizens Redistricting
Commission, which must adjust the boundary lines of the
supervisorial districts of the board following a decennial
federal census.
SB 958 requires that the 14-member commission must be created no
later than December 31st in 2020, and in each year ending in
the number zero thereafter. SB 958 requires that the political
party preferences of the commission members, as shown on the
members' most recent affidavits of registration, must be as
proportional as possible to the total number of voters who are
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registered with each political party in the County of Los
Angeles, as determined by registration at the most recent
statewide election. The bill requires at least one commission
member to reside in each of the eight service planning areas in
the County of Los Angeles.
Redistricting commission members . Senate Bill 958 requires each
commission member to:
Be a Los Angeles County resident.
Be a registered voter in Los Angeles County who has not
changed political party affiliation for five or more years
immediately preceding the date of being appointed to the
commission.
Have voted in at least one of the last three statewide
elections immediately preceding applying to be a member of
the commission.
Possess experience that demonstrates analytical skills
relevant to the redistricting process and voting rights,
and possess an ability to comprehend and apply the
applicable state and federal legal requirements.
Possess experience that demonstrates an ability to be
impartial.
Possess experience that demonstrates an appreciation for
the diverse demographics and geography of the County of Los
Angeles.
SB 958 prohibits each person who applies to serve on the
commission, and any immediate family member of an applicant,
from having done any of the following within 10 years before
applying to serve on the commission:
Being appointed to, elected to, or having been a
candidate for office at the local, state, or federal level
representing the County of Los Angeles, including as a
member of the board.
Serving as an employee of, or paid consultant for, an
elected representative at the local, state, or federal
level representing the County of Los Angeles.
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Serving as an employee of, or paid consultant for, a
candidate for office at the local, state, or federal level
representing the County of Los Angeles.
Serving as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a
political party or as an appointed member of a political
party central committee.
Being a registered state or local lobbyist.
Commission application and selection process . Senate Bill 958
allows an interested person who meets the bill's specified
qualifications to submit an application to the county elections
official to be considered for membership on the commission.
SB 958 requires that the county elections official must:
Review the applications and eliminate applicants who do
not meet the specified qualifications.
Select 60 of the most qualified applicants from the pool
of qualified applicants, taking into account the
requirements specified in the bill.
Make public the names of the 60 most qualified
applicants for at least 30 days.
Not communicate with a member of the board of
supervisors, or an agent for a member of the board, about
any matter related to the nomination process or applicants
prior to the publication of the list of the 60 most
qualified applicants.
The bill allows the county elections official, during the
minimum 30 day period during which the names are public, to
eliminate any of the previously selected applicants if the
official becomes aware that the applicant does not meet
specified qualifications.
SB 958 requires the county elections official to create a
subpool of applicants for each of the eight service planning
areas in the County of Los Angeles.
SB 958 requires that the county auditor-controller, at a
regularly scheduled meeting of the board of supervisors, must
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conduct a random drawing to select one commissioner from each of
the eight subpools established by the county elections official.
The eight selected commissioners must review the remaining
names in the subpools of applicants and must appoint six
additional applicants to the commission, who must be chosen
based on relevant experience, analytical skills, and ability to
be impartial, and to ensure that the commission reflects the
county's diversity, including racial, ethnic, geographic, and
gender diversity. The bill requires the eight commissioners to
also consider political party preference, selecting applicants
so that the political party preference of the members of the
commission are as proportional as possible to that of the
registered voters in the county. The bill prohibits formulas or
specific ratios from being applied for this purpose.
SB 958 declares that selection process is designed to produce a
commission that is independent from the influence of the board
and reasonably representative of the county's diversity.
Commission responsibilities . Senate Bill 958 requires a
commission member to apply the bill's provisions in a manner
that is impartial and that reinforces public confidence in the
integrity of the redistricting process. SB 958 directs that
each commission member's term expires upon the appointment of
the first member of a succeeding commission. The bill specifies
that nine members of the commission constitutes a quorum and
that nine or more affirmative votes are required for any
official action.
The bill prohibits the commission from retaining a consultant,
as defined, who would not be qualified as an applicant pursuant
to specified requirements enacted by the bill.
SB 958 requires the commission to establish single-member
supervisorial districts for the board pursuant to a mapping
process using the following criteria as set forth in the
following order of priority:
Districts must comply with the United States
Constitution and each district must have reasonably equal
population with other districts for the board, except where
deviation is required to comply with the federal Voting
Rights Act or allowable by law.
Districts must comply with the federal Voting Rights
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Act.
Districts must be geographically contiguous.
The geographic integrity of any city, county, city and
county, local neighborhood, or local community of interest,
as defined in the bill, must be respected in a manner that
minimizes their division to the extent possible without
violating other specified criteria.
To the extent practicable, and where it does not
conflict with other specified criteria, districts must be
drawn to encourage geographical compactness such that
nearby areas of population are not bypassed for more
distant population.
SB 958 prohibits the commission from:
Considering the place of residence of any incumbent or
political candidate in the creation of a map.
Drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or
discriminating against an incumbent, political candidate,
or political party.
SB 958 requires that before the commission draws a map, it must
conduct at least seven public hearings, to take place over a
period of no fewer than thirty days, with at least one public
hearing held in each supervisorial district. The bill requires
the commission to establish and make available to the public a
calendar of specified public hearings and requires all
commission meetings to comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act's open
government requirements.
After the commission draws a draft map, the commission must:
Post the map for public comment on the Internet Web site
of the County of Los Angeles.
Conduct at least two public hearings to take place over
a period of at least 30 days.
The bill contains numerous additional provisions governing the
manner in which the commission must fulfill its
responsibilities, including provisions relating to:
Agendas for commission meetings.
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Live translation of commission hearings.
Encouraging county residents to participate in the
redistricting public review process.
Public access to a computerized database, redistricting
data, and computer software.
Preserving specified commission records and data as
public records.
Redistricting plan . Senate Bill 958 requires the commission to
adopt a redistricting plan adjusting the boundaries of the
supervisorial districts and to file the plan with the county
elections official before August 15 of the year following the
year in which each decennial federal census is taken. The bill
requires that:
The plan must be effective 30 days after it is filed
with the county elections official.
The plan must be subject to referendum in the same
manner as ordinances.
The commission must issue, with the final map, a report
that explains the basis on which the commission made its
decisions in achieving compliance with the specified
criteria.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . Senate Bill 958 seeks to align the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors' redistricting policy with
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the statewide movement toward independent redistricting. SB 958
builds upon the precedent set by SB 1331 (Kehoe), which created
an independent redistricting commission to draw San Diego
County's supervisorial district boundaries. The bill
establishes a commission with a structure and selection process
that are nearly identical to those used by the successful
statewide citizens redistricting commission that was established
when California voters approved Proposition 11 in November,
2008. By empowering a 14-member body to redraw supervisors'
districts, instead of allowing the five county supervisors to
draw the lines themselves, SB 958 will allow a broader range of
perspectives and voices to determine the boundaries' shape.
This will help ensure that supervisorial boundaries will reflect
Los Angeles County's broad demographic and regional diversity.
Because boundaries drawn by an independent citizen's commission
are not likely to be drawn in a manner that specifically favors
incumbent supervisors, the resulting districts will likely
generate more competitive elections for seats on the board.
More competitive elections, in turn, benefit all Los Angeles
County residents by increasing the incentives for county
supervisors to be attentive and responsive to their
constituents.
2. State interests vs. home rule . Unlike SB 1330, which was
sponsored by San Diego County and reflected recommendations for
a redistricting commission that had been developed locally, SB
958 does not reflect any particular local public discussion or
consensus about a Los Angeles redistricting commission.
Counties adopt voter-approved charters to gain more local
control over their governance structure. If SB 958 is enacted,
any subsequent changes that Los Angeles County residents want to
make to the citizens redistricting commission will require the
Legislature's approval. To be more consistent with the
home-rule purpose of county charters, the Committee may wish to
consider amending SB 958 to provide a greater role for Los
Angeles residents in determining the structure and functions of
the county's citizens redistricting commission. For example,
the bill could be amended to require the Board of Supervisors to
establish the commission subject to a set of minimum statutory
requirements, while allowing the board to exercise discretion
over how the commission should be structured and operate to best
reflect local priorities and values.
3. Political Reform Act . SB 958 requires that anyone applying
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to be a member of the citizens redistricting commission must
comply with numerous requirements and prohibitions. These
provisions are intended to provide some confidence that the
applicant will make truly independent decisions if selected to
serve on the commission. However, the bill does not
specifically require that members of the commission must be
subject to any of the Political Reform Act's reporting
provisions, which require many other state and local government
officials to publicly disclose income, loans, gifts, and other
activities that could potentially influence decisions they make
as public officials. To provide greater confidence that
redistricting commission members won't be influenced by gifts or
other benefits they receive while serving on a commission, the
Committee may wish to consider amending SB 958 to make
commission members subject to the Political Reform Act's
reporting requirements.
4. Clarification . SB 958 requires that commission members must
be selected so that the party preferences of the commission's
members "are as proportional as possible to that of the
registered voters in the county." The bill also says that
"formulas or specific ratios shall not be applied for this
purpose." It's unclear how to determine whether the party
preferences of commission members are "as proportional as
possible" to party preferences among voter without applying any
"specific ratios." This language is intended to ensure that the
composition of the commission cannot be challenged on the basis
that the percent of the commission's members representing a
particular party registration does not precisely match the
percentage of county voters registered with that party. For
example, although voters who decline to state a party preference
account for 24.77% of registered voters in Los Angeles County,
the commission's membership could include either three
decline-to-state members (representing 21.43% of the
commission's membership) or four decline-to-state members
(accounting for 28.57% of the commission's membership). The
Committee may wish to consider amending the bill to clarify that
the party preferences of the commission's members must be as
proportional as possible to voters' party preferences, but that
the bill does not require any of the party registration
proportions on the committee to be exactly the same as the
proportions among registered voters.
5. Mandate . The California Constitution requires the state to
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reimburse local governments for the costs of new or expanded
state mandated local programs. Because SB 958 imposes new duties
on Los Angeles County government officials, Legislative Counsel
says that it imposes a new state mandate. The state was able to
disclaim responsibility for reimbursing local costs associated
with the redistricting commission established by SB 1331 (Kehoe,
2012) because that legislation was requested by San Diego County
officials. However, because Los Angeles County officials are
not requesting SB 958's enactment, the bill requires the state
to reimburse local agencies if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill imposes a reimbursable mandate.
6. Special legislation . The California Constitution prohibits
special legislation when a general law can apply (Article IV,
§16). Senate Bill 958 contains findings and declarations
explaining the need for legislation that applies only to Los
Angeles County.
7. Related legislation . SB 1108 (Allen), which will also be
heard at the Senate Governance & Finance Committee's April 20
hearing, would allow any city or county to establish a
commission to change the boundaries of county supervisors' or
city council members' electoral districts after a federal
census.
Support and
Opposition (4/14/16)
Support : Unknown.
Opposition : Unknown.
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