S7882-2009 Actions

• Jun 8, 2010: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
• Jun 2, 2010: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO ELECTIONS
• May 27, 2010: COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
• May 24, 2010: PRINT NUMBER 7882A
• May 24, 2010: AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO ELECTIONS
• May 20, 2010: COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO ELECTIONS
• May 19, 2010: REFERRED TO FINANCE

S7882-2009 Memo

 BILL NUMBER:  S7882

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act providing for the creation of a legislative advisory commission
on redistricting and demographic research


 PURPOSE :
New York's present redistricting system has permitted the legislature
to redraw legislative districts disregarding the public's need for
fair representation and responsive government. This legislation amends
current law by expanding the role of the Legislative Task Force on
Demographic Research and Reapportionment into a Legislative Advisory
Commission on Redistricting and Demographic Research comprising
non-legislators selected by legislative leadership and a chair to be
selected by the other members (consistent with the State
Constitution's requirement that the legislature enact districting
legislation). The legislation also requires that the commission use
objective and strict criteria that both follows state constitutional
mandates and minimizes opportunities for so-called partisan
gerrymandering. The legislation also requires outreach efforts for
broad public participation and input.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1(a) creates an advisory commission on redistricting to draw
senate, assembly and congressional districts. The commission would
have nine members, with each of the four legislative leaders
appointing two members for a term often years beginning April 1 of the
year before the census is taken. The ninth member and chair shall be
selected by a vote of at least six of the other eight members,
including one from each appointing authority.

Subsection (b) The districts shall be developed by a vote of at least
five members and submitted to the legislature for a vote. The
commission must establish senate and assembly districts by January 31,
2012 and congressional districts must be established by March 31,
2012. The commission must issue a report on how the redistricting plan
complies with the criteria set out in the bill and must issue multiple
reports if a majority cannot be reached on the plans. If the
legislature fails to adopt the plan, the commission shall revise the
plan and retain all recommendations to the legislature. All votes
shall be taken at public meetings/hearings. Commission shall promote
public participation, and hold public hearings and allow adequate time
for public comment/submission of proposals.

Subsection (c) Allows for the appropriations of expenses necessary for
such commission

Subsection (d) Describes the duties of the commission and allows the
commission to conduct research and to maintain specific demographic
and geographic data. All expert reports and data collected from the
public shall be made available to the public.

Section 2: Criteria to be followed

(a) legislative districts shall be as nearly equal in population as
practicable and shall have a deviation that does not exceed ten
percent of the mean population of all districts

(b) Congressional districts shall be as nearly equal in population as
practicable

(c) districts shall contain contiguous territory

(d) no person shall be deemed to gain or lose a residence by reason of
conviction/incarceration
(e) must give equal representation to racial and language minority
groups

(f) criteria hierarchy to be followed:

(i) to the extent possible, counties shall not be divided in the
formation of districts

(ii) to the extent possible, county subdivisions shall not be divided
in the formation of districts except to create districts wholly within
a subdivision

(iii) if a town must be divided, where possible, incorporated villages
shall not be divided

(iv) districts shall be as compact in form as possible

(v) unite communities of interest

(vi) two or more incumbent members shall not be placed in the same
district

 EXISTING LAW :


 JUSTIFICATION :
This legislation is designed to make New York's redistricting process
more fair, transparent, and objective. The last state senate
redistricting resulted in a greater number of grossly under populated
districts in upstate regions of the state and fewer districts through
overpopulation in downstate areas. Districts were created neglecting
common sense standards of contiguity and compactness. Communities of
interest and common purpose were often ignored, tearing neighborhoods
apart. Traditional redistricting criteria was simply ignored.  Fewer
opportunities were available for Hispanic, African American and
Caribbean American communities to elect their candidates of choice.

This legislation addresses the core issues of how districts should be
created and who should create them. While keeping the responsibility
within the legislature as required by the state constitution, the
legislation expands on the roll of the Legislative Task Force on
Demographic Research and Reapportionment by changing the name and
membership. Eight new non-legislator commission members would be
appointed by the four legislative leaders (two each by the Speaker,
Senate President Pro Tempore and senate and assembly minority leaders.
The eight appointees would select another non-legislator to serve as
chair. The commission would develop and recommend plans for senate,
assembly, and congressional districts to the legislature for enactment
based on a majority vote. The commission would also address changes to
plans rejected by the legislature for resubmission to the legislature.

Timely deadlines are provided for plan enactments permitting adequate
time for either U.S. Justice Department or DC federal court approval
(for Bronx, New York and Kings counties) and the orderly election
administration.

The commission would be required to work with strict criteria limiting
partisan advantages and abuses common to recent redistricting efforts.

Districts would have to be drawn adhering to minimal population
deviations, thereby preventing regional favoritism and partisan
advantage while at the same time providing enough flexibility to
comply with federal Voting Rights Act Sections 5 and Section 2
requirements.


Other major criteria limit contiguity problems by requiring that
districts remain accessible within districts and minimizing
connections by water. Communities of interest are defined to enable
proper identification of New Yorkers when creating districts.

Districts would be required to be compactly drawn, measured against
standards used by the courts when reviewing redistricting plans.

Partisan favoritism would be heavily eliminated by unnecessarily
pairing legislators into the same district, a technique often employed
by the majority party against the minority party.

The legislation also addresses a long-standing civil rights issue
regarding the counting of prisoners for redistricting purposes.
Prisoners incarcerated in state institutions would be counted at their
"home of record" for senate, assembly and congressional redistricting.

Thirty years ago, New York was at the forefront of redistricting
reform when it created LATFOR as a mechanism to redraw districts in a
new and fairer way than in the 1960s and 1970s post-Baker v. Carr
decision rounds permitted.

This new legislation will move New York even further into a more open,
fair and transparent process with strong criteria and greater public
involvement, through additional non-legislator members and public
participation.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :


 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

S7882-2009 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 
                                         7882
 I N  SENATE
 May 19, 2010
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  DILAN, SAMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed,
 and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 

AN ACT providing for the creation of a legislative  advisory  commission
 on redistricting and demographic research
 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section 1. Legislative advisory commission on redistricting and  demo
 graphic  research.   a. There shall be a legislative advisory commission
 on redistricting and demographic research  (the  "commission")  to  draw
 senate,  assembly and congressional districts, so that all the people of
 New York may be fairly represented. The commission shall consist of nine
 members. No person shall be a member of the  commission  who  is  not  a
 registered  voter in the state of New York, and who has not been, at the
 time of appointment, a resident of the state of New York for five years.
 No member of the senate or assembly,  no  member  of  congress,  and  no
 person  holding  judicial  office,  shall be a member of the districting
 commission. The temporary president of the senate, the  minority  leader
 of  the  senate, the speaker of the assembly, and the minority leader of
 the assembly shall each appoint two members for  a  term  of  ten  years
 commencing  on  the first day of April of the year preceding the year in
 which the federal decennial census is taken, except that,  if  this  act
 shall  become  effective after such date, the terms of the members shall
 commence as soon as possible. If a seat on  the  commission  shall  fall
 vacant, the officer of the legislature who appointed the original member
 shall  appoint  a member to complete the unexpired term; except that, if
 more than two members appointed by the officers of  either  house  would
 then have been appointed by an officer of the same party, then the other
 officer  of  the  same house shall appoint a member to fill the vacancy.
 The ninth member, who shall be the chair of  the  commission,  shall  be
 appointed  by a vote of at least six of the other eight members, includ
 ing at least one appointed by each appointing authority, to a term  that
 shall expire at the same time as the terms of the other members.
 b.  The  senate, assembly, and congressional districts shall be devel
 oped by a vote of at least five members of the commission, including the
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD17442-01-0
 
       S. 7882                             2
 affirmative vote of the chair of the commission. The  plans  of  senate,
 assembly,  and congressional districts developed by the commission shall
 be submitted to the legislature for enactment. The senate  and  assembly
 districts  shall be enacted into law no later than the last day of Janu
 ary of the second year following the year in which the federal decennial
 census is taken. The commission shall issue a report explaining how  the
 districts  comply  with  the  requirements  of  section two of this act.
 Congressional districts shall be enacted into law no later than the last
 day of March of the second year following the year in which the  federal
 decennial  census  is  taken.  The commission shall at that time issue a
 report explaining how the districts  comply  with  the  requirements  of
 section  two  of  this  act. The commission shall meet and make remedial
 adjustments to plans for congressional, assembly  and  senate  districts
 should  the  legislature  fail  to adopt the commission's plan. Any such
 revised plans shall be submitted to the legislature for proper consider
 ation. Such districts shall become effective for the next ensuing gener
 al election of senators, assembly members, and members of congress.  The
 senate,  assembly  and  congressional  districts  shall remain unaltered
 until after the subsequent federal decennial census, except that, if  an
 alteration  of  such  districts shall be ordered by a court of competent
 jurisdiction, or if such districts shall be prevented from taking effect
 pursuant to this act or to any provision of the constitution and laws of
 the United States, the commission shall recommend necessary  alterations
 to  the  legislature  to provide a remedy.   All votes of the commission
 shall be taken at public meetings, and the commission shall cause  tran
 scripts  of all meetings and hearings, including all testimony submitted
 in writing, to be made publicly available. The commission shall  promote
 informed  public  understanding of, and participation in, the process of
 redistricting, by such means as providing  information  to  the  public,
 holding  hearings and adequate public comment before and after each plan
 is developed, and encouraging submission of proposals.
 c.  The  legislature  shall  make  necessary  appropriations  for  the
 expenses  of  the commission, provide for compensation and reimbursement
 of expenses for the members and staff of the commission, assign  to  the
 commission any additional duties that the legislature may deem necessary
 to  the  performance  of  the duties stipulated in this act, and require
 other agencies and officials of the state of New York and its  political
 subdivisions  to  provide such information and assistance as the commis
 sion may require to perform its duties.
 d. Subject to such reasonable regulations  as  the  legislature  shall
 promulgate,  the  commission  shall,  with the approval of the temporary
 president of the senate, minority leader of the senate, the  speaker  of
 the assembly and the minority leader of the assembly as may be necessary
 to  perform  its  duties,  hire  staff,  enter  into  contracts, conduct
 research, hold hearings, and communicate with the public; shall assemble
 and maintain such geographic, demographic, election and voter  registra
 tion  data  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  analysis and evaluation of
 proposed and established plans of senate,  assembly,  and  congressional
 districts,  including,  but not limited to, the compliance of such plans
 with the provisions of this act and with the constitution  and  laws  of
 the  United  States;  and  shall  cause  all  such  data, and all expert
 reports, results of  any  other  research  conducted  under  a  contract
 entered into by the commission, and proposals for districts submitted by
 the public, to be made publicly available.
 

S  2.  Criteria  to  be  followed.  a. All districts of a house of the
 legislature shall be as nearly equal  in  population  as  is  practical,
 
       S. 7882                             3
 except  as  necessary  to satisfy the requirements of subdivisions c, e,
 and f of this section, but the difference in population between the most
 and least populous senate districts shall not exceed ten percent of  the
 mean  population  of  all  senate districts, and the difference in popu
 lation between the most and least populous assembly districts shall  not
 exceed ten percent of the mean population of all assembly districts. For
 any  contiguous group of senate or assembly districts, the percentage of
 the total number of such districts contained within such group, and  the
 percentage  of  the  total population of the state contained within such
 group, both expressed as two-digit numbers followed by  two-digit  deci
 mals,  shall  not differ by an amount greater than 0.50. The populations
 of any two senate or assembly districts adjoining within a county subdi
 vision, or, in a city with a population of one million or more, within a
 county, shall not differ by an amount greater than two  percent  of  the
 mean population of such two districts.
 b.  All congressional districts shall be as nearly equal in population
 as is practicable.
 c. Each district shall consist of contiguous  territory;  no  district
 shall  consist  of  parts entirely separated by the territory of another
 district of the same body, whether such  territory  be  land  or  water,
 populated  or unpopulated. A populated census block shall not be divided
 by a district boundary, unless it can be determined that  the  populated
 part of such block is within a single district.
 d.  The  whole  number  of  persons  reported in the federal decennial
 census shall be the basis for determining populations for  the  purposes
 of this act, except that, for the purpose of determining the populations
 of  senate  and  assembly  districts,  no person shall be deemed to have
 gained or lost a residence by reason of conviction and incarceration  in
 a federal or state correctional facility.
 e.  Senate,  assembly,  or congressional districts shall not be estab
 lished that result in a denial  to  members  of  racial  and  linguistic
 minority  groups  of an equal opportunity with other citizens to partic
 ipate in the political process and to elect the representatives of their
 choice. The principles stated in subdivision f of this section shall  be
 used  to  create  districts  that will afford fair representation to the
 members of those racial and linguistic minority groups  who  are  suffi
 ciently  numerous  and whose residential patterns afford the opportunity
 of creating districts in which they will  be  able  to  elect  represen
 tatives of their choice.
 f. Subject and subsidiary to the requirements of subdivisions a, b, c,
 d,  and e of this section, the following principles shall be followed in
 the creation of senate, assembly, and congressional districts. A princi
 ple with a lower number shall have precedence over a  principle  with  a
 higher number.
 i. To the extent possible, counties shall not be divided in the forma
 tion  of  districts,  except  to create districts wholly within a county
 pursuant to state law.
 ii. Where possible, county subdivisions shall not be  divided  in  the
 formation of districts, except to create districts wholly within a coun
 ty subdivision. For the purposes of this act, a county subdivision shall
 be  a city (except for a city with a population of one million or more),
 a town, or an Indian reservation whose territory  is  exclusive  of  the
 territory  of  any city or town. To the extent possible, county subdivi
 sions with larger populations shall be divided in preference to division
 of those with smaller populations.
 
       S. 7882                             4
 iii. If a town must be divided, where possible, incorporated  villages
 shall not be divided.
 iv.  Senate, assembly, and congressional districts shall be as compact
 in form as is possible. Plans  of  senate,  assembly,  or  congressional
 districts  shall be compared, using average numerical measures, for each
 such plan, of: (1) geographic dispersion, the degree to which the terri
 tory of districts is either tightly packed or widely spread out, (2) the
 relation of the perimeter lengths to the areas of districts, and (3) the
 dispersion of the populations of districts;  but  no  measure  shall  be
 employed  that  is  scale-sensitive,  according  different weight to the
 compactness of districts in rural, as  compared  with  urban  areas,  or
 yielding different measures for identically shaped districts that differ
 only in absolute size.
 v.  To  the  extent  possible,  a  senate,  assembly, or congressional
 district shall unite communities defined  by  actual  shared  interests,
 taking  account  of geographic, social, economic, and other factors that
 indicate commonality of interest, and districts shall be formed so as to
 promote the orderly and efficient administration of elections.
 vi. To the extent possible, the residences of two  or  more  incumbent
 members  of  the  same  body shall not be placed in the same district of
 such body, and the residences of incumbent legislators  and  members  of
 congress  shall  be  included in the district with the largest number of
 their existing constituents, but the requirements of subdivisions a,  b,
 c,  d, and e of this section, and of paragraphs i, ii, iii, iv, and v of
 this subdivision, shall always take precedence over, and shall never  be
 subordinated  to, the requirements of this paragraph or the preservation
 of the cores of existing districts.
 

S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

*By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and Privacy Policy and verify you are over 13.

Discuss!