BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1331
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
SB 1331 (Kehoe) - As Introduced: February 23, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 32-3
SUBJECT : County of San Diego Independent Redistricting
Commission.
SUMMARY : Establishes a redistricting commission in San Diego
County and charges it with adjusting the boundaries of
supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides for the creation of a redistricting commission in San
Diego County. Requires the commission to be comprised of five
members and two alternates who meet the following
qualifications:
a) Be a resident of San Diego County;
b) Be a registered voter in San Diego County;
c) Be a former or retired state or federal judge; and,
d) Not be a current member of the county board of
supervisors.
2)Permits any person who meets the qualifications to serve on
the commission to submit his or her name to the clerk of the
board of supervisors of San Diego County to be included in a
random drawing to select the members and alternates to the
commission. Requires the clerk to conduct a random drawing at
a regularly scheduled meeting of the board of supervisors to
select the members and alternates of the commission.
3)Permits the presiding judge of the San Diego County Superior
Court to assist the clerk of the board of supervisors in San
Diego County in identifying former or retired judges that may
be qualified to be included in the drawing.
4)Requires the redistricting commission to adjust the
supervisorial district boundaries after each decennial federal
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census. Requires that the boundaries be adjusted so that the
districts are equal or nearly equal in population. Requires
the resulting supervisorial districts to comply with any
applicable provisions of Section 2 of the federal Voting
Rights Act (VRA), as amended.
5)Permits the redistricting commission to consider all of the
following factors when establishing the boundaries of
supervisorial districts:
a) Topography;
b) Geography;
c) Cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of
territory; and,
d) Communities of interests in each district.
6)Requires the redistricting commission to use federal census
tracts and blocks in establishing the boundaries of
supervisorial districts.
7)Requires the board of supervisors of San Diego County to
provide for reasonable staffing and logistical support for the
commission.
8)Makes the redistricting commission subject to the Ralph M.
Brown Act (the state's open meetings law) and requires the
commission to conduct at least seven public hearings with at
least one public hearing held in each supervisorial district.
9)Requires the redistricting commission to adopt a redistricting
plan adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts and
to file the plan with the clerk of the board of supervisors
prior to the first day of October of the year following the
year in which each decennial federal census is taken.
Provides that the plan is effective 30 days after it is filed
with the clerk. Provides that the plan is subject to
referendum in the same manner as ordinances.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the board of supervisors of each county, following
each decennial federal census, and using that census as a
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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 as may be and comply with
the applicable provisions of Section 2 of the VRA, as amended.
2)Permits a board of supervisors, when adjusting the boundaries
of supervisorial districts, to give consideration to the
following factors:
a) Topography;
b) Geography;
c) Cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of
territory; and,
d) Communities of interests in the districts.
3)Requires a board of supervisors to hold at least one public
hearing on any proposal to adjust the boundaries of a
supervisorial district prior to the public hearing at which
the board votes to approve or defeat the proposal.
4)Establishes a procedure for a government of a county to adopt
a charter by a majority vote of its electors voting on the
question. Generally provides greater autonomy over county
affairs to counties that have adopted charters.
5)Provides that counties that have adopted charters are subject
to statutes that relate to apportioning population of
governing body districts.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
State-mandated local program; contains a local request
disclaimer.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
SB 1331 promotes a specific redistricting reform
solution supported by elected officials, Latino voter
advocacy groups, and others from San Diego County.
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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors (the County
Board) voted on January 24, 2012 to seek changes in
state law necessary to create an independent
redistricting commission comprised of retired judges.
SB 1331 creates the independent commission and shifts
the authority for redistricting San Diego County's
supervisorial districts from the County Board to the
independent commission. Changes to the San Diego
County charter would conform the Charter to state law,
facilitating implementation and operation of the
independent commission.
Because the Elections Code controls and limits the
redistricting process, the County Board cannot
reformulate its redistricting process unless the
Legislature changes the Elections Code to provide for
an independent redistricting commission in San Diego
County. Moreover, because San Diego County voters
must approve of any charter changes, the state should
initiate action on this matter so that voters will
know all the relevant statutory changes that will
influence conforming amendments to the county charter.
2)California Counties Must Follow State Law Governing
Redistricting : A number of California cities (including the
City of San Diego, as discussed below) have established
redistricting commissions to adjust city council districts
following each decennial census. In some cities, these
commissions are advisory, and only make recommendations to the
city council, but in other cities, the redistricting
commission has the authority to adopt a redistricting plan
independent of the city council. Charter cities are able to
establish such commissions because the state Constitution
gives charter cities broad authority over the conduct of city
elections and over the manner in which, method by which, times
at which, and terms for which municipal officers are elected.
Charter counties, on the other hand, are not granted the same
level of authority over the conduct of county elections, and
in fact, the state Constitution explicitly provides that
"�c]harter counties are subject to statutes that relate to
apportioning population of governing body districts." In light
of this provision of the state Constitution, charter counties
are unable to provide for the creation of a redistricting
commission through an amendment to the county charter unless
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statutory authority is provided to allow a county to have such
a commission.
3)Should State Law Dictate the Structure of a San Diego County
Redistricting Commission ? As noted above, existing law does
not permit San Diego County to establish a redistricting
commission without statutory authorization, and in light of
that fact, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has
sponsored this bill requesting authorization for the county to
create such a commission. This bill goes beyond simply
providing such authorization to San Diego County, however, as
it imposes a number of conditions on the formation and
composition of any commission that the county establishes.
Among other conditions, this bill provides that only former or
retired state or federal judges are eligible to serve on any
commission that the county establishes, and it provides that
the members of the commission must be selected at random from
all applicants who meet the qualifications to serve on the
commission.
Because the San Diego County Charter currently provides for
redistricting to be conducted by the Board of Supervisors, the
voters of San Diego County would need to approve a charter
amendment before the redistricting commission envisioned by
this bill could be created. However, this bill would present
the voters of San Diego County with an all-or-nothing
decision-either voters would have to approve a redistricting
commission that complies with the requirements governing the
formation and composition of that commission that are outlined
in this bill, or the voters could vote down the proposal to
create the commission, and have redistricting remain within
the purview of the board of supervisors.
Additionally, because of the conditions that this bill creates
for any San Diego County redistricting commission, subsequent
legislation would be required for any change that the voters
of San Diego County wished to make to the structure of the
redistricting commission.
In light of these facts, the committee may wish to consider
giving San Diego County the authority to establish a
redistricting commission through the approval of a charter
amendment, but to leave the details of how that commission
would be formed to the charter amendment itself.
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4)California Citizens Redistricting Commission : Proposition 11,
which was approved by the voters at the 2008 statewide general
election, created the Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC),
and gave it the responsibility for establishing district lines
for Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization. Proposition
11 also modified the criteria to be used when drawing district
lines. Proposition 20, which was approved by the voters at
the 2010 statewide general election, gave the CRC the
responsibility for establishing lines for California's
congressional districts, and made other changes to the
procedures and criteria to be used by the CRC. The CRC
consists of 14 registered voters, including five Democrats,
five Republicans, and four others, all of whom are chosen
according to procedures specified in Proposition 11.
5)San Diego City Redistricting Commission : The council
districts for the City of San Diego are already adjusted by a
commission rather than the city council. Pursuant to the San
Diego City Charter, the San Diego Redistricting Commission is
composed of seven members appointed by the Presiding Judge of
the Municipal Court, San Diego Judicial District. The
Presiding Judge must appoint women and men who will give the
Redistricting Commission geographic, social and ethnic
diversity, and who have a high degree of competency to carry
out the responsibilities of the Commission. The appointees
must include individuals with a demonstrated capacity to serve
with impartiality in a nonpartisan role and must be registered
to vote in the City of San Diego. Persons who accept
appointment to the Commission, at the time of their
appointment, must file a written declaration with the City
Clerk stating that within five years of the Commission's
adoption of a final redistricting plan, they will not seek
election to a San Diego City public office. The districts
must be contiguous and as equal in population and as
geographically compact as possible. The districts must also,
as far as possible, be bounded by natural boundaries, by
street lines and/or by city boundary lines.
6)Communities of Interest : Although not defined by this bill,
the California Constitution, for the purposes of the CRC,
defines "community of interest" as a contiguous population
which shares common social and economic interests that should
be included within a single district for purposes of its
effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared
interests are those common to an urban area, a rural area, an
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industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to
areas in which the people share similar living standards, use
the same transportation facilities, have similar work
opportunities, or have access to the same media of
communication relevant to the election process. Communities of
interest shall not include relationships with political
parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Diego County (sponsor)
California State Association of Counties
Latino American Political Association of San Diego
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094