Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission composed of residents of the local jurisdiction to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing law authorizes the local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to the commission, provided that the jurisdiction uses an application process open to all eligible residents. Existing law disqualifies a person or a family member of a person from being appointed to the commission if he or she has engaged in specified activities during the 8 years preceding his or her appointment. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 4 years after the date of his or her appointment, or from being a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction for 10 years after the date of his or her appointment. Existing law authorizes an independent redistricting commission to impose additional qualifications or restrictions on members of the commission in excess of these provisions. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on the commission, members of the commission, or applicants to the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission or a hybrid redistricting commission, prohibit the direct appointment of members of the commission by the legislative body or an elected official of the local jurisdiction. The bill would clarify that a person is disqualified from being appointed to the commission if that person or a family member of that person engages in specified activities preceding the date of that persons appointment. The bill would reduce to 4 years the time period for certain activities of a family member of a person, other than his or her spouse or registered domestic partner, that would disqualify that person from appointment to the commission. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would instead prohibit a member from being a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction if less than 5 years have elapsed since the date of his or her appointment or if the commission on which the member served adopted or recommended the district boundaries to be used for the election, as specified. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries, except as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a commission to impose additional requirements and restrictions on a commission or applicants to a commission in excess of these provisions. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction, except a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the local jurisdictions election district boundaries, as specified. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of a community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission composed of residents of the local jurisdiction to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing law authorizes the local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to the commission, provided that the jurisdiction uses an application process open to all eligible residents. Existing law disqualifies a person or a family member of a person from being appointed to the commission if he or she has engaged in specified activities during the 8 years preceding his or her appointment. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 4 years after the date of his or her appointment, or from being a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction for 10 years after the date of his or her appointment. Existing law authorizes an independent redistricting commission to impose additional qualifications or restrictions on members of the commission in excess of these provisions. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on the commission, members of the commission, or applicants to the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission or a hybrid redistricting commission, prohibit the direct appointment of members of the commission by the legislative body or an elected official of the local jurisdiction. The bill would clarify that a person is disqualified from being appointed to the commission if that person or a family member of that person engages in specified activities preceding the date of that persons appointment. The bill would reduce to 4 years the time period for certain activities of a family member of a person, other than his or her spouse or registered domestic partner, that would disqualify that person from appointment to the commission. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would instead prohibit a member from being a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction if less than 5 years have elapsed since the date of his or her appointment or if the commission on which the member served adopted or recommended the district boundaries to be used for the election, as specified. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries, except as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a commission to impose additional requirements and restrictions on a commission or applicants to a commission in excess of these provisions. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction, except a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the local jurisdictions election district boundaries, as specified. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of a community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission, composed of residents of the local jurisdiction, to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing law authorizes the local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to the commission, provided that the jurisdiction uses an application process open to all eligible residents. Existing law disqualifies a person or a family member of a person from being appointed to the commission if he or she has engaged in specified activities during the 8 years preceding his or her appointment. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, jurisdiction for 4 years, commencing with years after the date of his or her appointment. appointment, or from being a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction for 10 years after the date of his or her appointment. Existing law authorizes an independent redistricting commission to impose additional qualifications or restrictions on members of the commission in excess of these provisions. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on the commission, members of the commission, or applicants to the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission or a hybrid redistricting commission, prohibit the direct appointment of members of the commission by the legislative body or an elected official of the local jurisdiction. The bill would clarify that a person is disqualified from being appointed to the commission if that person or a family member of that person engages in specified activities preceding the date of that persons appointment. The bill would reduce to 4 years the time period for certain activities of a family member of a person, other than his or her spouse or registered domestic partner, that would disqualify that person from appointment to the commission. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would instead prohibit a member from being a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction if less than 5 years have elapsed since the date of his or her appointment or if the commission on which the member served adopted or recommended the district boundaries to be used for the election, as specified. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries. boundaries, except as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a commission to impose additional requirements and restrictions on a commission or applicants to a commission in excess of these provisions. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction, except a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the local jurisdictions election district boundaries, as specified. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of a community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission, composed of residents of the local jurisdiction, to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing existing law authorizes the local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to the commission, provided that the jurisdiction uses an application process open to all eligible residents. Existing law disqualifies a person or a family member of a person from being appointed to the commission if he or she has engaged in specified activities during the 8 years preceding his or her appointment. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, for 4 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. Existing law authorizes an independent redistricting commission to impose additional qualifications or restrictions on members of the commission in excess of these provisions. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on the commission, members of the commission commission, or applicants to the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission, commission or a hybrid redistricting commission, prohibit the direct appointment of members of the commission by the legislative body or an elected official of the local jurisdiction. The bill would clarify that a person is disqualified from being appointed to the commission if that person or a family member of that person engages in specified activities preceding the date of that persons appointment. The bill would reduce to 4 years the time period for certain activities of a family member of a person, other than his or her spouse or registered domestic partner, that would disqualify that person from appointment to the commission. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a commission to impose additional requirements and restrictions on a commission or applicants to a commission in excess of these provisions. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction, except a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the local jurisdictions election district boundaries, as specified. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of a community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission, composed of residents of the local jurisdiction, to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing law prohibits the appointment of a person, or family member of a person, who engaged in specified activities during the preceding 8 years, including having been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction. disqualifies a person or a family member of a person from being appointed to the commission if he or she has engaged in specified activities during the 8 years preceding his or her appointment. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, for 4 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on members of the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission, instead prohibit a person from being appointed to serve on the commission if the person or a family member of the person has done any of the specified activities described above within the 4 years preceding the persons application, except for having been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction. clarify that a person is disqualified from being appointed to the commission if that person or a family member of that person engages in specified activities preceding the date of that persons appointment. The bill would reduce to 4 years the time period for certain activities of a family member of a person, other than his or her spouse or registered domestic partner, that would disqualify that person from appointment to the commission. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from engaging in specified activities accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction, except a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the local jurisdictions election district boundaries. boundaries, as specified. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of a community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission, composed of residents of the local jurisdiction, to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing law prohibits the appointment of a person, or family member of a person, who engaged in specified activities during the preceding 8 years, including having been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, for 4 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on members of the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission, instead prohibit a person from being appointed to serve on the commission if the person or a family member of the person has done any of the specified activities described above within the 4 years preceding the persons application, except for having been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from engaging in specified activities for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a general law city local jurisdiction, except a county, to contract with a county in which the city local jurisdiction is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the city council district boundaries for that city. local jurisdictions election district boundaries. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law authorizes a local jurisdiction, defined as a county or general law city, to establish by resolution or ordinance a commission, composed of residents of the local jurisdiction, to either change the boundaries of the districts of the local jurisdictions legislative body or recommend to the governing body changes to the boundaries of the districts. Existing law defines a legislative body for these purposes to mean either a city council of a general law city or a county board of supervisors.

For a commission that recommends changes to district boundaries, defined as an advisory redistricting commission, existing law prohibits a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction from being appointed to serve on the commission, and requires the commission to submit a report to the legislative body of its findings on the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes, within a specified time after the federal decennial census, as specified.

For a commission empowered to change district boundaries, defined as an independent redistricting commission, existing law prohibits the appointment of a person, or family member of a person, who engaged in specified activities during the preceding 8 years, including having been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction. Existing law also prohibits a commission member from engaging in specified activities, such as accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, for 4 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. Existing law requires a commission to adopt new boundaries within a specified period of time after the federal decennial census. Existing law prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent or political candidate.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction to establish a commission by charter amendment. The bill would, for an advisory redistricting commission, authorize a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on members of the commission in excess of those described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report on its findings and recommended changes within a specified time after the federal decennial census.

This bill would, for an independent redistricting commission, instead prohibit a person from being appointed to serve on the commission if the person or a family member of the person has done any of the specified activities described above within the 4 years preceding the persons application, except for having been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction. The bill would instead prohibit a commission member from engaging in specified activities for 2 years, commencing with the date of his or her appointment. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the commission adopt new boundaries within a specified period after the federal decennial census and instead subject the commission to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body. The bill would prohibit a legislative body from altering district boundaries that it or a hybrid or independent redistricting commission has adopted until after the next federal decennial census following the adoption of the boundaries. The bill would additionally prohibit a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. The bill would authorize a general law city to contract with a county in which the city is located that has established a commission empowered to change district boundaries to have that commission adopt the city council district boundaries for that city. The bill would apply the provisions applicable to an independent redistricting commission to a hybrid redistricting commission, as defined. The bill would define redistricting, for the purposes of these provisions and those described above, to mean either districting or redistricting. The bill would expand the definition of legislative body to include a governing board of a school district, a governing board of community college district, or an elected governing board of a special district. The bill would expand the definition of a local jurisdiction to include a school district, community college district, or special district.

Existing law, the California Voters Choice Act, authorizes 14 specified counties on or after January 1, 2018, and any county except for the County of Los Angeles on or after January 1, 2020, to conduct any election as an all-mailed ballot election if certain conditions are satisfied. On or after January 1, 2020, the act authorizes the County of Los Angeles to conduct any election as a vote center election if certain conditions are satisfied. For an all-mailed ballot election conducted under these provisions, existing law requires the county elections official to make a reasonable effort to inform a voter if the voters vote by mail ballot envelope is missing a signature or how the voter can correct the missing signature.

This bill would extend this notification requirement regarding missing signatures to the county elections official in the County of Los Angeles in conducting a vote center election in that county.

 UNFINISHED BUSINESS  

Bill No: SB 1018

Author:

Amended: 6/14/18

Vote:

SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 4/3/18

AYES: Stern, Allen, Hertzberg, Leyva

NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson

SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/2/18

AYES: McGuire, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Lara, Moorlach

SENATE FLOOR: 36-0, 5/21/18

AYES: Allen, Anderson, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Bradford, De León, Dodd, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Moorlach, Morrell, Newman, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella, Fuller, Monning

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 67-3, 8/16/18 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Elections: state and local reapportionment

SOURCE: California Common Cause

DIGEST:

This bill (1) permits specified local jurisdictions to use a hybrid redistricting commission; (2) permits school districts, community college districts, and special districts to create a redistricting commission; and (3) modifies some of the requirements for serving on a local redistricting commission.

Assembly Amendments modify the restrictions for independent and hybrid redistricting commissioners seeking elective office and make clarifying changes.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Specifies that a general law city or a county may establish an independent redistricting commission or an advisory redistricting commission by resolution or ordinance.
2. Defines an “advisory redistricting commission” as a body that recommends to a legislative body placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body.
3. Defines an “independent redistricting commission” as a separate body empowered to adopt the district boundaries for a legislative body.
4. Provides that a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction, shall not be appointed to serve on an advisory redistricting commission.
5. Specifies, among other provisions, that an advisory redistricting commission shall submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for boundary changes and its recommended changes within six months after the final population figures in each federal decennial census have been released or by August 1 of the same year.
6. Provides that an independent redistricting commission shall adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures determined in each federal decennial census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
7. Allows a local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to an independent redistricting commission.
8. Prohibits a person, or a family member of a person, from serving on an independent redistricting commission if the person has done any of the following in the preceding eight years:
   1. Been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   3. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
   4. Served as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
   5. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction.
   6. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
9. Prohibits a member of an independent redistricting commission from doing any of the following:
   1. While serving on the commission, endorse, work for, volunteer for, or make a campaign contribution to, a candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Be a candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction for 10 years commencing with the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
   3. Accept an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, accept employment as a staff member or consultant to an elected official or candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction, receive a noncompetitively bid contract with the local jurisdiction, or register as a lobbyist for the local jurisdiction for four years commencing from the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
10. Prohibits the composition of an independent redistricting commission from being entirely of members who are registered to vote with the same political party preference.
11. Requires a map of proposed boundaries be published and made available to the public for at least seven days prior to being adopted.
12. Requires an independent redistricting commission to hold at least three public hearings prior to the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.
13. Prohibits an independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favor or discriminates against an incumbent or political candidate.
14. Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that charter counties are subject to state statutes that relate to redistricting seats of the counties' boards of supervisors.

This bill:

1. Permits a general law city or a county to establish a hybrid redistricting commission.
2. Permits a school district, community college district, or a special district to establish an advisory, hybrid, or independent redistricting commission.
3. Defines “spouse” to mean a spouse or registered domestic partner.
4. Defines a “hybrid redistricting commission” to mean a body, other than a legislative body, that is empowered to recommend to the legislative body two or more maps for adoption by the legislative body without modifications, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law.
5. Allows a local jurisdiction to establish an independent, hybrid, or advisory redistricting commission by a charter amendment.
6. Allows a local jurisdiction to impose additional requirements and restrictions on the commission, members of the commission, or applicants of the commission in excess of those already prescribed.
7. Deletes the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes.
8. Adds hybrid redistricting commissions to the same criteria specified for independent redistricting commissions. Provides that for either a hybrid or independent redistricting commission that the commissioners are not directly appointed by the legislative body or an elected official of the local jurisdiction.
9. Prohibits a person from being appointed to serve on the commission if the person or any family member of the person has been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction in the eight years preceding the person’s application.
10. Specifies that a person or his or her spouse is prohibited from serving on a hybrid or independent redistricting commission in the eight years preceding the person’s application for a commission if he or she has done any of the following:
    1. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
    2. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
    3. Served as a staff member or consultant to, or who has contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
    4. Registered to lobby the local jurisdiction.
    5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
11. Modifies the prohibition of a family member of the person, other than his or her spouse, from serving on a hybrid or independent redistricting commission in the four years preceding the person’s application for a commission, as specified.
12. Reduces the period of time after a person serves on an independent or hybrid redistricting commission that the person is prohibited from being a candidate for elective office in that jurisdiction from 10 years to five years after the person's appointment, and prohibits a person who served on an independent commission from being a candidate for elective office in the jurisdiction if the election is conducted using the district boundaries adopted by the commission, as specified.
13. Changes from four to two years the prohibition beginning from the date of an individual’s appointment to the commission of accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction.
14. Aligns a hybrid and independent redistricting commission’s deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body.
15. Prohibits a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favors or discriminates against a political party.
16. Removes the requirement that an independent redistricting commission adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures determined in each federal decennial census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
17. Requires a hybrid redistricting commission to publish a map of the proposed new district boundaries, make that map available to the public for at least seven days before that map may be adopted, and hold at least three public hearings preceding the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.
18. Requires that district boundaries adopted for a legislative body using a hybrid or independent redistricting commission model not be altered until after the next federal census unless those boundaries have been invalidated by a court.
19. Permits specified local jurisdictions that are partially or wholly located within a county that has an existing independent redistricting commission to contract with that county to have the commission adopt the district boundaries for that local jurisdiction if certain conditions are met.
20. Clarifies “redistricting” includes “districting.”
21. Makes technical and clarifying changes.

Background

California Citizens Redistricting Commission. In November 2008, California voters passed Proposition 11 and authorized the creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC). The CCRC was tasked with establishing district lines for the Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization. In 2010, voters passed Proposition 20 which, among other provisions, included establishing lines for California’s congressional districts into the CCRC’s responsibilities.

Creation of local commissions. Since the establishment of the CCRC, many local governments created their own redistricting entities. According to the California Local Redistricting Project’s 2017 report, California Local Redistricting Commissions: Landscape, Consideration, and Best Practices, 37 California local governments have either established or used a redistricting commission to recommend or redraw election district boundaries following the 2010 census. In addition, even though most of these commissions were designed for the 2010 redistricting cycle, 17 are permanent commissions, with each having their own parameters and are reestablished after each census.

State and local redistricting. In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 1108 (Allen, Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016). SB 1108 permitted all counties and cities to establish a redistricting commission to either adopt a redistricting plan themselves or recommend changes.

At the time, charter counties, general law counties, and general law cities were not authorized the same level of authority over the conduct of elections as charter cities. These jurisdictions were unable to create a redistricting commission that has the authority to adopt a redistricting plan. State law prevented cities and counties from establishing an independent redistricting commission. While the bill did not require all counties and cities to create a redistricting commission, it removed the barrier and granted the authority to do so.

Modifying existing restrictions for applicants and commissioners. SB 1018 modifies the time length used for disqualifying qualifications for applicants applying to serve on a redistricting commission as well as the restrictions used for applicants, commissioners, former commissioners, spouses, and family members. This includes modifying some of the current restrictions from eight to four years and from four to two years. A number of existing redistricting commissions have varying disqualifying criteria and restrictions for current and former commissioners with little consensus over what and for how long these restrictions should bar a person who is either applying or serving on a redistricting commission. This bill seeks to set a broader baseline for local jurisdictions to decide what qualifications are important and for how long certain prohibitions should remain in effect.

Emergence of hybrid redistricting commissions. As an attempt to bridge the divide between local governments and good government groups, hybrid redistricting commissions provide an additional redistricting model for municipalities. A hybrid redistricting commission has the ability to recommend new district boundaries, but usually includes the local governing body before final adoption.

The type of hybrid redistricting commission permissible under the provisions in SB 1018 allows the redistricting commission to submit to a legislative body two or more maps to the local legislative body. The legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification unless a modification is required to comply with state or federal law. An example of this was seen in 2015 in the City of Merced’s Independent Districting Advisory Committee (IDAC). The IDAC was charged with dividing Merced into six council districts that would be used for the future election of city council members in 2016. A number of recommended maps were submitted to the Merced City Council and, without amendments from the Council, one proposed map was adopted.

Comments

According to the author, SB 1018 clarifies and streamlines current law to ensure a smooth process for local redistricting after the 2020 census. Senator Allen authored SB 1108 in 2016, which authorized all counties and cities to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. These changes will streamline the redistricting process for local districts and bring more transparency and nonpartisan redistricting to counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 1108 (Allen, Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016) allowed any county or general law city to establish a redistricting commission to change the boundaries of county supervisors’ or city council members’ electoral districts following a federal census.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/16/18)

California Common Cause (source)

American Civil Liberties Union of California

Kelly Kent, Vice President, Governing Board of Education Culver City Unified School District

League of Women Voters of California

Sabrina Brennan, Member, San Mateo Harbor Commission

Tom Panas, Member, West Contra Costa Unified School District

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/16/18)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 67-3, 8/16/18

AYES: Acosta, Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Baker, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Burke, Caballero, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Daly, Eggman, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Reyes, Rivas, Rodriguez, Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Voepel, Weber, Wood, Rendon

NOES: Travis Allen, Brough, Waldron

NO VOTE RECORDED: Chen, Dahle, Flora, Fong, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Harper, Mathis, McCarty, Patterson

Prepared by:

8/18/18 12:33:00

**** END ****

SENATE THIRD READING

STR Bill Id:SB 1018

Author:(Allen)

As Amended Ver:June 14, 2018

Majority vote

SENATE VOTE: 36-0

SUMMARY: Allows local jurisdictions to establish hybrid redistricting commissions (hybrid commissions), as specified. Allows school, community college, and special districts to establish redistricting commissions. Modifies the conditions for individuals who are permitted to serve on independent redistricting commissions (independent commissions). Specifically, this bill:

1. Clarifies that a local redistricting commission formed pursuant to existing law may be used when establishing district boundaries for the first time.
2. Clarifies that a local jurisdiction may impose additional requirements or restrictions on a redistricting commission, members of the commission, or applicants to the commission.
3. Allows a school, community college, or special district to establish a redistricting commission.
4. Reduces the period of time, from eight to four years preceding an appointment to an independent commission, that an applicant's family members other than the applicant's spouse must not have engaged in any of the following conduct in order for that applicant to be eligible to serve on the commission:
   1. Served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a political party or a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction;
   2. Served as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee;
   3. Served as a staff member of or consultant to, or contracted with, a currently-serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction;
   4. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction; or,
   5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction, provided that the jurisdiction may adjust this amount to reflect inflation.
5. Reduces the period of time after a person serves on an independent commission that the person is prohibited from being a candidate for elective office in that jurisdiction from 10 years to five years after the person's appointment, and prohibits a person who served on an independent commission from being a candidate for elective office in the jurisdiction if the election is conducted using the district boundaries adopted by the commission, as specified.
6. Reduces the period of time, from four to two years following the date of a person's appointment to a local jurisdiction's independent commission, that the person is prohibited from accepting an appointment to an office of that jurisdiction.
7. Defines a hybrid commission as a body that recommends to a legislative body two or more maps for the placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body, where the legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification, except as specified.
8. Allows a local jurisdiction to establish a hybrid commission, as defined. Provides that hybrid commissions and commissioners are generally subject to the same procedures, requirements, and restrictions as independent commissions and commissioners.
9. Prohibits members of an independent or hybrid commission for a local jurisdiction from being directly appointed by the legislative body or an elected official of that jurisdiction.
10. Allows a local redistricting commission to be established by charter amendment.
11. Prohibits hybrid and independent commissions from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party.
12. Prohibits district boundaries that are adopted by an independent commission, or adopted by a legislative body from recommendations by a hybrid commission, from being altered until after the next federal decennial census, unless the boundaries are invalidated by a court.
13. Repeals existing deadlines for local redistricting commissions to complete their work. Makes independent and hybrid commissions subject to the same deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that otherwise apply to a legislative body.
14. Permits a local jurisdiction, except for a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is partially or wholly located and that has established an independent commission, to have that commission adopt the local jurisdiction's election district boundaries. Requires the county's independent commission, in such a situation, to hold at least three public hearings in the local jurisdiction before adopting the boundaries.
15. Makes technical and corresponding changes.

FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.

COMMENTS: According to the author, "SB 1018 allows school boards, community college boards and special district boards to establish independent, hybrid or advisory redistricting commissions and makes various changes to streamline and clarify the law allowing local jurisdictions to create redistricting commissions… SB 1108 in 2016… authorized all counties and cities to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. This bill makes improvements and clarifications to existing law including clarifying that jurisdictions may create hybrid commissions, prohibiting independent commissions from drawing lines for the purpose of benefiting or discriminating against a political party and relaxing some of the commissioner eligibility requirements to allow more citizens to participate in the process."

Prior to 2017, state law generally permitted a county or a city to create an advisory redistricting commission, but did not expressly permit local jurisdictions to create commissions that had the authority to establish district boundaries. Instead, the authority to establish district boundaries for a local jurisdiction generally was held by the governing body of that jurisdiction. (Some charter cities had established redistricting commissions with the authority to establish district boundaries using the autonomy granted to charter cities under the California Constitution.)

In 2016, however, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1108 (Allen), Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016, which permits a county or a general law city to establish a redistricting commission, subject to certain conditions. In authorizing counties and general law cities to create redistricting commissions, SB 1108 authorized two different types of commissions: independent commissions and advisory commissions. SB 1108 imposed few restrictions and requirements on advisory commissions, but subjected members of independent commissions to extensive eligibility requirements and post-service restrictions.

This bill—which is authored by the same member as SB 1108—relaxes some of the eligibility requirements for members of independent commissions and eases one of the post-service restrictions on those members in an effort to expand the pool of individuals who are available to serve on such commissions. Other notable provisions of this bill allow for the creation of hybrid commissions, subject to the same restrictions and requirements as independent commissions, and allow local governmental entities (school, community college, and special districts) that were not included in SB 1108 to establish redistricting commissions.

Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill.

Analysis Prepared by: Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN: 0003640

Date of Hearing: June 27, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 1018

Author:(Allen) – As Amended Ver:June 14, 2018

SENATE VOTE: 36-0

SUBJECT: Elections: state and local reapportionment.

SUMMARY: Allows specified local jurisdictions to create a hybrid redistricting commission, allows school districts, community college districts, and special districts to create a redistricting commission, and modifies some of the requirements for serving on a local redistricting commission. Specifically, this bill:

1. Allows a county or a general law city to establish a hybrid redistricting commission.
2. Allows a school district, community college district, or a special district to establish an advisory, hybrid, or independent redistricting commission.
3. Allows a local jurisdiction to establish an advisory, hybrid, or independent redistricting commission by a charter amendment.
4. Makes the following changes to law governing advisory redistricting commissions:
   1. Deletes a requirement that an advisory commission submit a report by specified dates
      to the legislative body documenting the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes; and,
   2. Allows a local jurisdiction to impose additional requirements or restrictions on an advisory commission, members of the commission, or applicants to the commission
      in excess of those prescribed by this bill and existing law.
5. Adds hybrid redistricting commissions to the body of law that governs independent redistricting commissions, and makes the following additional changes to these statutes:
   1. Clarifies that commissioners are not to be directly appointed by the legislative body or an elected official of the local jurisdiction;
   2. Prohibits a person from being appointed to serve on a commission if the person or any family member of the person has been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction in the eight years preceding the person's application;
   3. Reduces the period of time, from eight years to four years preceding an appointment to an independent commission, that an applicant's family members (other than the applicant's spouse) must not have engaged in any of the following conduct in order for that applicant to be eligible to serve on the commission:
      1. Served as an officer or employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee
         or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction;
      2. Served as an officer or employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee;
      3. Served as a staff member or a consultant to, or contracted with, a currently-serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction;
      4. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction; or,
      5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction. The local jurisdiction may adjust this amount by the cumulative change in the California Consumer Price Index, or its successor, in every year ending in zero;
   4. Reduces, from 10 years to five years, the period of time after a person's appointment to a commission that the person is prohibited from being a candidate for elective office in that jurisdiction;
   5. Prohibits a commission member from being a candidate for elective office in that jurisdiction if:
      1. The election for that office will be conducted using district boundaries that were adopted by the commission on which the member served, and those district boundaries have not been subsequently readopted by a commission after the end
         of the member’s term on the commission; and,
      2. The election for that office will be conducted using district boundaries that were adopted by a legislative body pursuant to a recommendation by the commission on which the member served, and those district boundaries have not been subsequently readopted by a legislative body pursuant to a recommendation by a commission after the end of the member’s term on the commission;
   6. Reduces the period of time, from four years to two years following the date of a person's appointment to a commission, that the person is prohibited from accepting an appointment to an office of that jurisdiction;
   7. Clarifies that a local jurisdiction may impose additional requirements and restrictions on a commission, on members of a commission, or on applicants to a commission in excess of those prescribed by this bill and existing law;
   8. Repeals existing deadlines for commissions to complete their work, and makes commissions subject to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body;
   9. Prohibits a commission from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party; and,
   10. Prohibits district boundaries that are adopted by an independent commission or adopted by a legislative body from recommendations provided by a hybrid commission from being altered by the legislative body or the commission until after the next federal decennial census occurs, unless those boundaries have been invalidated by a final judgment or order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
6. Allows a local jurisdiction, except for a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is partially or wholly located that has established an independent commission to have that commission adopt the local jurisdiction's election district boundaries. The county's independent commission must hold at least three public hearings in the local jurisdiction before adopting these boundaries.
7. Provides or clarifies the following definitions:
   1. "Hybrid redistricting commission" means a body that recommends to a legislative body two or more maps for the placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body, where the legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law;
   2. "Spouse" means a spouse or registered domestic partner; and,
   3. "Redistricting" means either districting or redistricting.
8. Makes technical and corresponding changes.

FISCAL EFFECT: None

COMMENTS:

1. Background. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) was created by Proposition 11, which voters approved in 2008. The CRC is responsible for establishing district lines for the Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization. Proposition 11 also modified the criteria used when drawing district lines. Proposition 20, approved by voters
   in 2010, 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.

Prior to last year, counties and general law cities were able to create advisory redistricting commissions (described in law as a "committee" of residents of the jurisdiction), but were not able to create commissions with the authority to establish district boundaries. Instead, the authority to establish district boundaries for a local jurisdiction was generally held by the governing body of that jurisdiction. Charter cities are able to establish redistricting commissions that have the authority to establish district boundaries 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. As a result, a number of California cities established redistricting commissions to adjust city council districts following each decennial census.

SB 1108 (Allen), Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016, allowed counties and general law cities to establish, by ordinance or resolution, both advisory and independent redistricting commissions. Although SB 1108 enabled broader use of redistricting commissions by cities and counties, state law does not allow other local governments to use the same authority to establish their own commissions. Accordingly, electoral district boundaries for special districts, school districts, and community college districts continue to be established by their governing boards, or in some cases, their principal acts.

1. Author's Statement. According to the author, "Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. This bill makes improvements and clarifications to existing law…(and) responds to continued local demand for nonpartisan redistricting by expanding the definition of local jurisdictions from just cities and counties to include school, community college and special districts. These changes will streamline the redistricting process for local districts and bring more transparency and nonpartisan redistricting to counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California."

1. Bill Summary. This bill makes a number of changes to local jurisdictions' authority to create redistricting commissions. Among its major provisions are the following:
   1. Creates a new type of redistricting commission called a "hybrid" commission, which recommends to a legislative body two or more maps for district boundaries, and requires a legislative body to adopt one of those maps without modification, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law;
   2. Allows counties and general law cities to create hybrid commissions and adds hybrid commissions to the laws governing independent commissions;
   3. Allows school boards, community college boards and special district boards to establish independent, hybrid or advisory redistricting commissions;
   4. Clarifies that redistricting includes districting;
   5. Allows a local jurisdiction to impose additional requirements and restrictions on members of commissions in excess of those already prescribed;
   6. Alters some of the qualifications, standards and post-services restrictions on commission members in order to expand the pool of eligible applications; and,
   7. Allows a city, school district, community college district or special district to contract with a county redistricting commission to adopt the local jurisdiction's election district boundaries, subject to public hearing requirements.

This bill is sponsored by California Common Cause.

1. Arguments in Support. California Common Cause, sponsor of this measure, states,
   "SB 1018 expands the scope of (SB 1108) and gives school districts, community college districts, and special districts the same options that counties and cities already have to adopt an independent commission. State law should not stand as a barrier to those districts that want to take the admirable step of creating a redistricting commission to carefully study, propose, and adopt new election district boundaries. SB 1018 also clarifies the original intent of SB 1108 by making it clearer that commissions may be used for an initial districting, and not simply a redistricting, and by clarifying that hybrid commissions, where both the local government and commission share authority in adopting final maps, must meet the same standards of independence and transparency required of independent commissions.

"Finally, SB 1018 also makes independent commissions easier for local governments to set up, by relaxing some of the commissioner eligibility requirements, standardizing commission deadlines to align with local legislative deadlines, and authorizing cities to contract with their county to have the county’s independent redistricting commission draw the city’s election districts, where such a commission exists. Lastly, to promote public confidence in the process, SB 1018 prohibits independent commissions from drawing lines in order to benefit or discriminate against a political party, which is a redistricting best practice."

1. Arguments in Opposition. None on file.
2. Double-Referral. This bill was heard by the Elections and Redistricting Committee on
   June 13, 2018, where it passed with a 6-0 vote.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Common Cause [SPONSOR]

American Civil Liberties Union of California

League of Women Voters of California

Individual letters (3)

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958

Date of Hearing: June 13, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING

Marc Berman, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 1018

Author:(Allen) – As Amended Ver:June 6, 2018

AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED

SENATE VOTE: 36-0

SUBJECT: Elections: state and local reapportionment.

SUMMARY: Allows local jurisdictions to establish hybrid redistricting commissions (hybrid commissions), as specified. Allows school districts, community college districts, and special districts to establish redistricting commissions. Modifies the conditions for individuals who are permitted to serve on independent redistricting commissions (independent commissions). Specifically, this bill:

1. Clarifies that a local redistricting commission formed pursuant to existing law may be used when establishing district boundaries for the first time when a jurisdiction transitions from at-large to district-based elections, in addition to being used when redrawing district lines in a jurisdiction that already conducts district-based elections.
2. Clarifies that a local jurisdiction may impose additional requirements or restrictions on a redistricting commission, members of the commission, or applicants to the commission in excess of the requirements and restrictions specified in state law.
3. Expands the types of local jurisdictions that are allowed to establish redistricting commissions to include school districts, community college districts, and special districts, in addition to counties and cities.
4. Reduces the period of time, from eight years to four years preceding an appointment to an independent commission, that an applicant's family members other than the applicant's spouse must not have engaged in any of the following conduct in order for that applicant to be eligible to serve on the commission:
   1. Served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a political party or of a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction;
   2. Served as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee;
   3. Served as a staff member of or consultant to, or contracted with, a currently-serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction;
   4. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction; or,
   5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction, provided that the jurisdiction may adjust this amount to reflect inflation.
5. Reduces the period of time after a person serves on an independent commission that the person is prohibited from being a candidate for elective office in that jurisdiction from 10 years to five years after the person’s appointment to the commission, and prohibits a person who served on an independent commission from being a candidate for elective office in the jurisdiction if the election will be conducted using the district boundaries that were adopted by the commission, as specified.
6. Reduces the period of time, from four years to two years following the date of a person's appointment to a local jurisdiction's independent commission, that the person is prohibited from accepting an appointment to an office of that jurisdiction.
7. Defines a hybrid commission as a body that recommends to a legislative body two or more maps for the placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body, where the legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law.
8. Allows a county, city, school district, community college district, or special district, to establish a hybrid commission, as defined, to recommend maps for the placement of district boundaries for the local jurisdiction.
9. Provides that hybrid commissions and commissioners are generally subject to the same procedures, requirements, and restrictions as apply to independent commissions and commissioners, as proposed to be modified by this bill.
10. Prohibits members of an independent or hybrid commission for a local jurisdiction from being directly appointed by the legislative body or an elected official of that jurisdiction.
11. Allows a local redistricting commission to be established by charter amendment, in addition to permitting such commissions to be established by ordinance or resolution.
12. Prohibits hybrid and independent commissions from drawing districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party.
13. Prohibits district boundaries that are adopted by an independent commission, or adopted by a legislative body from recommendations provided by a hybrid commission, from being altered by the legislative body or the commission until after the next federal decennial census occurs.
14. Repeals existing deadlines for local redistricting commissions to complete their work. Makes independent and hybrid commissions subject to the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body.
15. Permits a local jurisdiction, except for a county, to contract with a county in which the local jurisdiction is partially or wholly located and that has established an independent commission, to have that commission adopt the local jurisdiction's election district boundaries. Requires the county's independent commission, in such a situation, to hold at least three public hearings in the local jurisdiction before adopting the boundaries.
16. Makes technical and corresponding changes.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Permits a county or a general law city, by resolution or ordinance, to establish either of the following:
   1. An independent commission that has the power to adopt the district boundaries of the legislative body; or,
   2. An advisory redistricting commission (advisory commission) that recommends to a legislative body the placement of district boundaries for that legislative body.
2. Defines "family member," for the purposes of provisions of law governing who may serve on a local redistricting commission, as a spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, sibling, child, or in-law.
3. Prohibits any of the following individuals from serving on an advisory commission:
   1. An elected official of the county or general law city; or,
   2. Family, staff, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the jurisdiction.
4. Requires an advisory commission to submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for changes to district boundaries, and its recommended changes, within six months after the final population figures from the census have been released, but not later than August 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
5. Permits a county or a general law city to decide how members are appointed to an independent commission, but requires the application process to be open to all eligible residents.
6. Prohibits an independent commission from being comprised entirely of members who are registered to vote with the same political party preference.
7. Prohibits a person from being appointed to an independent commission if that person or a family member has done any of the following in the preceding eight years:
   1. Been elected or appointed to, or a candidate for, elective office of the local jurisdiction;
   2. Served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a political party or of a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction;
   3. Served as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee;
   4. Served as a staff member of or consultant to, or contracted with, a currently-serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction;
   5. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction; or,
   6. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction, provided that the jurisdiction may adjust this amount to reflect inflation.
8. Permits a county or a general law city to impose additional qualifications and restrictions for members of an independent commission.
9. Prohibits a member, for 10 years following his or her appointment to an independent commission, from being a candidate for an elective office of the jurisdiction.
10. Prohibits a member, for four years following his or her appointment to an independent commission, from doing any of the following:
    1. Accepting an appointment to an office of the jurisdiction;
    2. Accepting employment as a staff member of, or consultant to, an elected official or candidate for elective office of the jurisdiction;
    3. Receiving a non-competitively bid contract with the jurisdiction; or,
    4. Registering as a lobbyist for the jurisdiction.
11. Requires an independent commission to adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures from the census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
12. Requires an independent commission to hold at least three public hearings prior to the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.

FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.

COMMENTS:

1. Author’s Amendments: After the committee’s deadline for pre-committee author's amendments, the author proposed amendments to modify the restriction on the amount of time after serving on an independent or hybrid commission that a commissioner is prohibited from being a candidate for office in that jurisdiction. Those amendments would prohibit a member of an independent or hybrid commission from being a candidate for office in the jurisdiction for five years after being appointed to the commission and at any election held using the district lines that were approved or recommended by the commission. This analysis reflects those proposed author's amendments.
2. Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:

SB 1018 allows school boards, community college boards and special district boards to establish independent, hybrid or advisory redistricting commissions and makes various changes to streamline and clarify the law allowing local jurisdictions to create redistricting commissions. Senator Allen authored SB 1108 in 2016, which authorized all counties and cities to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. This bill makes improvements and clarifications to existing law including clarifying that jurisdictions may create hybrid commissions, prohibiting independent commissions from drawing lines for the purpose of benefiting or discriminating against a political party and relaxing some of the commissioner eligibility requirements to allow more citizens to participate in the process. SB 1018 responds to continued local demand for nonpartisan redistricting by expanding the definition of local jurisdictions from just cities and counties to include school, community college and special districts. These changes will streamline the redistricting process for local districts and bring more transparency and nonpartisan redistricting to counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California.

1. 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.
2. Local Redistricting Commissions and Previous Legislation: Prior to 2017, state law generally permitted a county or a city to create an advisory redistricting commission (described in state law at the time as a "committee" of residents of the jurisdiction), but did not expressly permit local jurisdictions to create commissions that had the authority to establish district boundaries. Instead, the authority to establish district boundaries for a local jurisdiction generally was held by the governing body of that jurisdiction. While charter cities could establish redistricting commissions that had the authority to establish district boundaries, charter counties did not have that authority in the absence of express statutory authorization.
   
   In 2016, however, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1108 (Allen), Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016, which permits a county or a general law city to establish a redistricting commission, subject to certain conditions. Additionally, SB 958 (Lara), Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016, required the establishment of a Citizens Redistricting Commission in Los Angeles County and charged it with adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census, as specified. Similarly, AB 801 (Weber), Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017, required the establishment of a Citizens Redistricting Commission in San Diego County and charged it with adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census, as specified.
   
   According to research from the California Local Redistricting Project, 40 local jurisdictions in California have established or used redistricting commissions since the beginning of 2010. Twenty-two of those 40 commissions were one-time commissions, however, mostly established for the purpose of proposing new district lines after the 2010 census. Eighteen local jurisdictions have permanent commissions, including two counties, 14 cities, and two school districts.
   
   In authorizing counties and general law cities to create redistricting commissions, SB 1108 authorized two different types of commissions: independent commissions and advisory commissions. SB 1108 imposed few restrictions and requirements on advisory commissions, but subjected members of independent commissions to extensive eligibility requirements and post-service restrictions. At the time SB 1108 was being considered by the Legislature, questions were raised about whether the substantial conditions imposed on independent commissions could serve as a disincentive for local governments to make the decision to establish such commissions.
   
   This bill—which is authored by the same member and sponsored by the same organization as SB 1108—relaxes some of the eligibility requirements for members of independent commissions and eases one of the post-service restrictions on those members in an effort to expand the pool of individuals who are available to serve on such commissions. Other notable provisions of this bill would allow for the creation of hybrid commissions, subject to the same restrictions and requirements as independent commissions, and allow local governmental entities (school districts, community college districts, and special districts) that were not included in SB 1108 to establish redistricting commissions.
3. Plans Invalidated by Courts and Suggested Amendment: One provision of this bill prohibits district boundaries that are adopted by an independent commission, or that are adopted by a legislative body from recommendations provided by a hybrid commission, from being altered until after the next federal decennial census occurs. While this provision is intended to prevent local jurisdictions that have independent or hybrid commissions from engaging in voluntary mid-decade adjustments to district lines, it could also restrict the ability of a local jurisdiction or a commission to adopt new district lines if the originally-adopted boundaries are invalidated by the courts. Committee staff recommends an amendment to ensure that local jurisdictions and commissions have the authority to adopt new district lines if a court strikes down the previously-adopted lines.
4. Contracting with an Independent Commission and Suggested Amendment: One provision of this bill allows a local jurisdiction to contract with an independent commission set up by a county in which the jurisdiction is located to adopt the local jurisdiction’s election district boundaries. This provision is intended to make it easier for a local jurisdiction to use an independent commission to draw its district boundaries in situations where it may otherwise be inefficient or unrealistic for the local jurisdiction to establish its own commission.
   
   In a situation where a local jurisdiction entered into such a contract, it is unclear whether the members of the county’s independent commission would have to comply with the same eligibility requirements as if the local jurisdiction had set up its own independent commission. For instance, if a school district contracted to have a county’s independent commission draw its district boundaries, would an individual be prohibited from serving on the county’s independent commission if that person made a $500 contribution to a candidate for the school board in that school district in the prior eight years? Given the extensive eligibility requirements for serving on an independent commission, such a policy could be unwieldy, and could create challenges for finding qualified commissioners. To address this concern, committee staff recommends an amendment to make it clear that the eligibility requirements for members of county independent commissions shall be applied to the members of the commission in a manner as if the commission had been created solely for the purpose of adopting the district boundaries of the county, even if another jurisdiction contracts to have that commission create its district boundaries as well.
5. Arguments in Support: The sponsor of this bill, California Common Cause, writes in support:

Before 2016, counties and general law cities had limited options for how to draw city council and county board district lines. SB 1108 (2016, B. Allen) gave counties and general law cities newfound permission to establish independent redistricting commissions, which have final authority over district lines and are recognized as a best practice by Common Cause and other good government organizations.

SB 1018 expands the scope of this reform and gives school districts, community college districts, and special districts the same options that counties and cities already have to adopt an independent commission. State law should not stand as a barrier to those districts that want to take the admirable step of creating a redistricting commission to carefully study, propose, and adopt new election district boundaries.

SB 1018 also clarifies the original intent of SB 1108 by making it clearer that commissions may be used for an initial districting, and not simply a redistricting, and by clarifying that hybrid commissions, where both the local government and commission share authority in adopting final maps, must meet the same standards of independence and transparency required of independent commissions.

Finally, SB 1018 also makes independent commissions easier for local governments to set up, by relaxing some of the commissioner eligibility requirements, standardizing commission deadlines to align with local legislative deadlines, and authorizing cities to contract with their county to have the county’s independent redistricting commission draw the city’s election districts, where such a commission exists. Lastly, to promote public confidence in the process, SB 1018 prohibits independent commissions from drawing lines in order to benefit or discriminate against a political party, which is a redistricting best practice.

1. Double-Referral: This bill has been double-referred to the Assembly Committee on Local Government.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Common Cause (prior version) (sponsor)

American Civil Liberties Union of California (prior version)

League of Women Voters of California (prior version)

Three individuals (prior version)

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 1018

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 4/3/18

AYES: Stern, Allen, Hertzberg, Leyva

NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson

SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/2/18

AYES: McGuire, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Lara, Moorlach

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: California Common Cause

DIGEST:

This bill (1) permits specified local jurisdictions to use a hybrid redistricting commission; (2) permits school districts, community college districts, and special districts to create a redistricting commission; and (3) modifies some of the requirements for serving on a local redistricting commission.

Senate Floor Amendments of 5/15/18 modify the current bill’s provisions relating to independent redistricting commissions.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Specifies that a general law city or a county may establish an independent redistricting commission or an advisory redistricting commission by resolution or ordinance.
2. Defines an “advisory redistricting commission” as a body that recommends to a legislative body placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body.
3. Defines an “independent redistricting commission” as a separate body empowered to adopt the district boundaries for a legislative body.
4. Provides that a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction, shall not be appointed to serve on an advisory redistricting commission.
5. Specifies, among other provisions, that an advisory redistricting commission shall submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for boundary changes and its recommended changes within six months after the final population figures in each federal decennial census have been released or by August 1 of the same year.
6. Provides that an independent redistricting commission shall adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures determined in each federal decennial census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
7. Allows a local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to an independent redistricting commission.
8. Prohibits a person, or a family member of a person, from serving on an independent redistricting commission if the person has done any of the following in the preceding eight years:
   1. Been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   3. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
   4. Served as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
   5. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction.
   6. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
9. Prohibits a member of an independent redistricting commission from doing any of the following:
   1. While serving on the commission, endorse, work for, volunteer for, or make a campaign contribution to, a candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Be a candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction for 10 years commencing with the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
   3. Accept an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, accept employment as a staff member or consultant to an elected official or candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction, receive a noncompetitively bid contract with the local jurisdiction, or register as a lobbyist for the local jurisdiction for four years commencing from the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
10. Prohibits the composition of an independent redistricting commission from being entirely of members who are registered to vote with the same political party preference.
11. Requires a map of proposed boundaries be published and made available to the public for at least seven days prior to being adopted.
12. Requires an independent redistricting commission to hold at least three public hearings prior to the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.
13. Prohibits an independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favor or discriminates against an incumbent or political candidate.
14. Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that charter counties are subject to state statutes that relate to redistricting seats of the counties' boards of supervisors.
15. Establishes a redistricting commission in the Counties of Los Angeles and San Diego and charges it with adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census, as specified.

This bill:

1. Permits a general law city or a county to establish a hybrid redistricting commission.
2. Permits a school district, community college district, or a special district to establish an advisory, hybrid, or independent redistricting commission.
3. Defines “spouse” to mean a spouse of registered domestic partner.
4. Defines a “hybrid redistricting commission” to mean a body, other than a legislative body, that is empowered to recommend to the legislative body two or more maps for adoption by the legislative body without modifications, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law.
5. Allows a local jurisdiction to establish an independent, hybrid, or advisory redistricting commission by a charter amendment.
6. Allows a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on members of the commission in excess of those already prescribed.
7. Deletes the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes.
8. Adds hybrid redistricting commissions to the same criteria specified for independent redistricting commissions.
9. Modifies the prohibition of a person or his or her spouse from serving on a hybrid or independent redistricting commission in the eight years preceding the person’s application for a commission. This includes:
   1. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
   3. Serving as a staff member or consultant to, or who has contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
   4. Registering to lobby the local jurisdiction.
   5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
10. Modifies the prohibition of a family member of the person, other than his or her spouse, from serving on a hybrid or independent redistricting commission in the four years preceding the person’s application for a commission. This includes:
    1. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
    2. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
    3. Serving as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
    4. Registering to lobby the local jurisdiction.
    5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
11. Changes from four to two years the prohibition beginning from the date of an individual’s appointment to the commission of accepting an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction.
12. Aligns a hybrid and independent redistricting commission’s deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body.
13. Prohibits a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favors or discriminates against a political party.
14. Removes the requirement that an independent redistricting commission adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures determined in each federal decennial census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
15. Requires a hybrid redistricting commission to publish a map of the proposed new district boundaries, make that map available to the public for at least seven days before that map may be adopted, and hold at least three public hearings preceding the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.
16. Requires that district boundaries adopted for a legislative body using a hybrid or independent redistricting commission model not be altered until after the next federal census.
17. Permits specified local jurisdictions that are partially or wholly located within a county that has an existing independent redistricting commission to contract with that county to have the commission adopt the district boundaries for that local jurisdiction if certain conditions are met.
18. Clarifies “redistricting” includes “districting.”
19. Makes technical and clarifying changes.

Background

California Citizens Redistricting Commission. In November 2008, California voters passed Proposition 11 and authorized the creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. The Commission consisted of 14 registered voters (five Democrats, five Republicans, and four others), and was tasked with establishing district lines for the Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization. In 2010, voters passed Proposition 20 which, among other provisions, gave the Commission the responsibility of establishing lines for California’s congressional districts.

Creation of local commissions. Since the establishment of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, many local governments created their own redistricting entities. According to the California Local Redistricting Project’s 2017 report, California Local Redistricting Commissions: Landscape, Consideration, and Best Practices, 37 California local governments have either established or used a redistricting commission to recommend or redraw election district boundaries following the 2010 census. In addition, even though most of these commissions were designed for the 2010 redistricting cycle, 17 are permanent commissions, with each having their own parameters and are reestablished after each census.

Los Angeles County Citizens Redistricting Commission. In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 958 (Lara, Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016). The bill established the Citizens Redistricting Commission for the County of Los Angeles. SB 958 established a 14-member redistricting commission to adjust the boundary lines for Los Angeles County’s supervisorial districts in accordance with specified criteria. Among the criteria established for the Commission’s composition, membership required that political party preference be as proportional as possible to the registered voter population in Los Angeles County.

San Diego County Independent Redistricting Commission. In 2017, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed AB 801 (Weber, Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017). The bill amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the Commission to 14 members, expanding the pool of eligibility for applicants, and revised the selection criteria. The composition and structure was based off the model used in Los Angeles County.

Unlike the Los Angeles County’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, San Diego County’s model amended the Commission’s structure established in SB 1331 (Kehoe, Chapter 508, Statutes of 2012), which randomly selected five retired state or federal judges to serve on the County’s redistricting commission.

State and local redistricting. In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 1108 (Allen, Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016). SB 1108 permitted all counties and cities to establish a redistricting commission to either adopt a redistricting plan themselves or recommend changes.

At the time, charter counties, general law counties, and general law cities were not authorized the same level of authority over the conduct of elections as charter cities. These jurisdictions were unable to create a redistricting commission that has the authority to adopt a redistricting plan. State law prevented cities and counties from establishing an independent redistricting commission. While the bill did not require all counties and cities to create a redistricting commission, it removed the barrier and granted the authority to do so.

Modifying existing restrictions for applicants and commissioners. SB 1018 modifies the time length used for disqualifying qualifications for applicants applying to serve on a redistricting commission as well as the restrictions used for applicants, commissioners, former commissioners, spouses, and family members. This includes modifying some of the current restrictions from eight to four years and from four to two years. A number of existing redistricting commissions have varying disqualifying criteria and restrictions for current and former commissioners with little consensus over what and for how long these restrictions should bar a person who is either applying or serving on a redistricting commission. This bill seeks to set a broader baseline for local jurisdictions to decide what qualifications are important and for how long certain prohibitions should remain in effect.

Emergence of hybrid redistricting commissions. As an attempt to bridge the divide between local governments and good government groups, hybrid redistricting commissions provide an additional redistricting model for municipalities. A hybrid redistricting commission has the ability to recommend new district boundaries, but usually includes the local governing body before final adoption.

The type of hybrid redistricting commission permissible under the provisions in SB 1018 allows the redistricting commission to submit to a legislative body two or more maps to the local legislative body. The legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification unless a modification is required to comply with state or federal law. An example of this was seen in 2015 in the City of Merced’s Independent Districting Advisory Committee. This committee was charged with dividing Merced into six districts that would be used for the future election of city council members in 2016. The Committee submitted a number of recommendations to the Merced City Council. The Council was not authorized to make amendments to the proposed maps and adopted one of the proposed maps.

Comments

According to the author, SB 1018 clarifies and streamlines current law to ensure a smooth process for local redistricting after the 2020 census. Senator Allen authored SB 1108 in 2016, which authorized all counties and cities to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. These changes will streamline the redistricting process for local districts and bring more transparency and nonpartisan redistricting to counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California.

Related/Prior Legislation

AB 801 (Weber, Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017) amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the Commission to 14 members and revising the selection process. The bill amended the Commission’s structure established in SB 1331 (Kehoe, Chapter 508, Statutes of 2012).

SB 958 (Lara, Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016) established the Citizens Redistricting Commission in the County of Los Angeles.

SB 1108 (Allen, Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016) allowed any county or general law city to establish a redistricting commission to change the boundaries of county supervisors’ or city council members’ electoral districts following a federal census.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/16/18)

California Common Cause (source)

American Civil Liberties Union of California

Kelly Kent, Vice President, Governing Board of Education Culver City Unified School District

League of Women Voters of California

Tom Panas, Member, West Contra Costa Unified School District

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/16/18)

None received

Prepared by:

5/16/18 15:57:54

**** END ****

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 1018

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 4/3/18

AYES: Stern, Allen, Hertzberg, Leyva

NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson

SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/2/18

AYES: McGuire, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Lara, Moorlach

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: California Common Cause

DIGEST:

This bill (1) permits specified local jurisdictions to use a hybrid redistricting commission; (2) permits school districts, community college districts, and special districts to create a redistricting commission; and (3) modifies some of the requirements for serving on a local redistricting commission.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Specifies that a general law city or a county may establish an independent redistricting commission or an advisory redistricting commission by resolution or ordinance.
2. Defines an “advisory redistricting commission” as a body that recommends to a legislative body placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body.
3. Defines an “independent redistricting commission” as a separate body empowered to adopt the district boundaries for a legislative body.
4. Provides that a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction, shall not be appointed to serve on an advisory redistricting commission.
5. Specifies, among other provisions, that an advisory redistricting commission shall submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for boundary changes and its recommended changes within six months after the final population figures in each federal decennial census have been released or by August 1 of the same year.
6. Provides that an independent redistricting commission shall adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures determined in each federal decennial census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
7. Allows a local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to an independent redistricting commission.
8. Establishes restrictions on a specified individuals or a family member of the individual from serving on an independent redistricting commission.
9. Establishes specified prohibitions on a member of an independent redistricting commission while serving and following his or her appointment to the commission.
10. Prohibits the composition of an independent redistricting commission from being entirely of members who are registered to vote with the same political party preference.
11. Requires a map of proposed boundaries be published and made available to the public for at least seven days prior to being adopted.
12. Requires an independent redistricting commission to hold at least three public hearings prior to the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.
13. Prohibits an independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favor or discriminates against an incumbent or political candidate.
14. Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that charter counties are subject to state statutes that relate to redistricting seats of the counties' boards of supervisors.
15. Establishes a redistricting commission in the counties of Los Angeles and San Diego and charges it with adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census, as specified.

This bill:

1. Permits a general law city or a county to establish a hybrid redistricting commission.
2. Permits a school district, community college district, or a special district to establish an advisory, hybrid, or independent redistricting commission.
3. Defines a “hybrid redistricting commission” to mean a body, other than a legislative body, that is empowered to:
   1. Adopt the district boundaries of a legislative body, but subject to modifications by the legislative body with a supermajority vote.
   2. Recommend to the legislative body two or more maps for adoption by the legislative body without modifications, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law.
4. Allows a local jurisdiction to establish an independent, hybrid, or advisory redistricting commission by a charter amendment.
5. Allows a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on members of the commission in excess of those already prescribed.
6. Deletes the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes.
7. Adds hybrid redistricting commissions to the same criteria specified for independent redistricting commissions.
8. Modifies the prohibition of a person or family member from serving on a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from eight to four years preceding the person’s application for a commission. This includes:
   1. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
   3. Serving as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
   4. Registering to lobby the local jurisdiction.
   5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
9. Changes from four to two years the following prohibitions commencing from the date of an individual’s appointment to the commission:
   1. Accept an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Accept employment to an elected official or candidate for elective office.
   3. Receive a noncompetitively bid contract with the local jurisdiction.
   4. Register as a lobbyist for the local jurisdiction for four year commencing with the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
10. Aligns hybrid and independent redistricting commission’s deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body.
11. Prohibits a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favors or discriminates against a political party.
12. Requires that district boundaries adopted for a legislative body using a hybrid or independent redistricting commission model not be altered until after the next federal census.
13. Permits specified local jurisdictions that are partially or wholly located within a county that has an existing independent redistricting commission to contract with that county to have the commission adopt the district boundaries for that local jurisdiction.
14. Clarifies “redistricting” includes “districting.”
15. Makes technical and clarifying changes.

Background

California Citizens Redistricting Commission. In November 2008, California voters passed Proposition 11 and authorized the creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commission consisted of 14 registered voters (five Democrats, five Republicans, and four others), and was tasked with establishing district lines for the Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization. In 2010, voters passed Proposition 20 which, among other provisions, gave the commission the responsibility of establishing lines for California’s congressional districts.

Creation of Local Commissions. Since the establishment of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, many local governments created their own redistricting entities. According to the California Local Redistricting Project’s 2017 report, California Local Redistricting Commissions: Landscape, Consideration, and Best Practices, 37 California local governments have either established or used a redistricting commission to recommend or redraw election district boundaries following the 2010 census. In addition, even though most of these commissions were designed for the 2010 redistricting cycle, 17 are permanent commissions, with each having their own parameters and are reestablished after each census.

Los Angeles County Citizens Redistricting Commission. In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 958 (Lara, Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016). The bill established the Citizens Redistricting Commission for the County of Los Angeles. The bill established a 14-member redistricting commission to adjust the boundary lines for Los Angeles County’s supervisorial districts in accordance with specified criteria. Among the criteria established for the commission’s composition, membership required that political party preference be as proportional as possible to the registered voter population in Los Angeles County.

San Diego County Independent Redistricting Commission. In 2017, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed AB 801 (Weber, Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017). The bill amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the commission to 14 members, expanding the pool of eligibility for applicants, and revised the selection criteria. The composition and structure was based off the model used in Los Angeles County.

Unlike the Los Angeles County’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, San Diego County’s model amended the commission’s structure established in SB 1331 (Kehoe, Chapter 508, Statutes of 2012), which randomly selected five retired state or federal judges to serve on the county’s redistricting commission.

State and local redistricting. In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 1108 (Allen, Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016). The bill permitted all counties and cities to establish a redistricting commission to either adopt a redistricting plan themselves or recommend changes.

At the time, charter counties, general law counties, and general law cities were not authorized the same level of authority over the conduct of elections as charter cities. These jurisdictions were unable to create a redistricting commission that has the authority to adopt a redistricting plan. State law prevented cities and counties from establishing an independent redistricting commission. While the bill did not require all counties and cities to create a redistricting commission, it removed the barrier and granted the authority to do so.

Modifying existing restrictions for applicants and commissioners. SB 1018 modifies the time length used for disqualifying qualifications for applicants applying to serve on a redistricting commission as well as the restrictions used for current and former commissioners. This includes modifying many of the current restrictions from eight to four years and from four to two years. A number of existing redistricting commissions have varying disqualifying criteria and restrictions for current and former commissioners with little consensus over what and for how long these restrictions should bar a person who is either applying or serving on a redistricting commission. This bill seeks to set a broader baseline for local jurisdictions to decide what qualifications are important and for how long certain prohibitions should remain in effect.

Emergence of hybrid redistricting commissions. As an attempt to bridge the divide between local governments and good government groups, hybrid redistricting commissions provide an additional redistricting model for municipalities. A hybrid redistricting commission has the ability to recommend new district boundaries, but usually must consult the local governing body before final adoption.

SB 1018 provides hybrid redistricting commissions with two options when establishing a commission. The first type of hybrid redistricting commission empowers a commission to adopt the district boundaries for a legislative body unless modifications are made by the governing body with a supermajority vote. An example of this is the Pasadena Unified School District’s Redistricting Commission. In 2012, Pasadena voters approved an amendment to the city’s charter to create a hybrid redistricting commission for the Pasadena Unified School District. This redistricting commission proposes a district map and, unless amended by a two-thirds majority of the Pasadena’s Board of Education, is adopted. Alternatively, if the legislative body fails to act within 60 calendar days of the submission of final report and recommended plan, then the hybrid redistricting commission’s recommended districts are adopted.

The second type of hybrid redistricting commission allows the commission to submit to a legislative body two or more maps to the local legislative body. The legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification unless a modification is required to comply with state or federal law. An example of this was seen in 2015 in the City of Merced’s Independent Districting Advisory Committee. This committee was charged with dividing Merced into six districts that would be used for the future election of city council members in 2016. The committee submitted a number of recommendations to the Merced City Council. The Council was not authorized to make amendments to the proposed maps and adopted one of the proposed maps.

Comments

According to the author, SB 1018 clarifies and streamlines current law to ensure a smooth process for local redistricting after the 2020 census. Senator Allen authored SB 1108 in 2016, which authorized all counties and cities to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. These changes will streamline the redistricting process for local districts and bring more transparency and nonpartisan redistricting to counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California.

Related/Prior Legislation

AB 801 (Weber, Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017) amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the commission to 14 members and revising the selection process. The bill amended the commission’s structure established in SB 1331 (Kehoe, Chapter 508, Statutes of 2012).

SB 958 (Lara, Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016) established the Citizens Redistricting Commission in the County of Los Angeles.

SB 1108 (Allen, Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016) allowed any county or general law city to establish a redistricting commission to change the boundaries of county supervisors’ or city council members’ electoral districts following a federal census.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/2/18)

California Common Cause (source)

American Civil Liberties Union of California

Kelly Kent, Vice President, Governing Board of Education Culver City Unified School District

League of Women Voters of California

Tom Panas, Member, West Contra Costa Unified School District

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/2/18)

None received

Prepared by:

5/4/18 14:01:02

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE

Senator Mike McGuire, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Elections: state and local reapportionment

Allows special districts, school districts, and community college districts to adopt redistricting commissions.

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 as possible 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, 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, prior to voting to approve or defeat the proposal at a second public hearing.

In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 11 which amended the California Constitution to transfer the power to redraw electoral district boundaries for seats in the Legislature to an independent 14-member citizen’s redistricting commission. The California Constitution provides that charter cities, without being bound by state general laws, may control their own municipal affairs, including matters related to the election of their city councils. Using their authority under the constitution’s municipal affairs doctrine, some charter cities have established independent citizen’s commissions to redraw city council district boundaries.

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). Similarly, state law allows a city council, following a decennial federal census, to appoint an advisory committee, composed of city residents, to study and make recommendations regarding changing city council district boundaries (AB 329, Quimby, 1970).

SB 1108 (Allen, 2016). Unlike charter cities, counties and general law cities couldn’t create independent redistricting commissions with the power to actually adopt boundaries for their governing bodies’ electoral districts until the Legislature authorized them to do so in 2016 (SB 1108, Allen). SB 1108 allowed cities and counties to establish, by ordinance or resolution, both advisory and independent redistricting commissions. SB 1108 generally provided cities and counties with wide latitude to determine the structure and membership of either an advisory or independent redistricting commission. However, SB 1108 established minimum qualifications for commission membership—such as prohibiting a person from serving on an independent redistricting commission if the person or a family member had served as an elected official within the past eight years, among others—and deadlines by which a commission must act.

Since the creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, many local governments created their own redistricting entities. According to the California Local Redistricting Project’s 2017 report, “California Local Redistricting Commissions: Landscape, Consideration, and Best Practices,” 37 California local governments have either established or used a redistricting commission to recommend or redraw election district boundaries following the 2010 census. In addition, even though most of these commissions were designed for the 2010 redistricting cycle, 17 are permanent commissions that are reestablished after each census. Most permanent commissions are established by cities; only two counties—Los Angeles and San Diego—have permanent redistricting commissions, both of which were established by state law (SB 958, Lara, 2016 and AB 801, Weber, 2017).

Although SB 1108 enabled broader use of redistricting commissions by cities and counties, state law does not allow other local governments to use the same authority to establish their own commissions. Accordingly, electoral district boundaries for special districts, school districts, and community college districts continue to be established by their governing boards, or in some cases, their principal acts. Common Cause wants to encourage greater use of redistricting commissions by allowing other local governments to establish redistricting commissions, authorizing additional types of redistricting commissions, and relaxing some conditions imposed on redistricting commissions.

Proposed Law

Senate Bill 1018 extends the ability to adopt an advisory or independent redistricting commission to special districts, school districts, and community college districts. SB 1018 also allows any local government, including a city, county, special district, school district, or community college district to adopt a hybrid redistricting commission, defined as a body, other than a legislative body, that:

• Is empowered to adopt electoral district boundaries for a local government, subject to modification by the local government’s legislative body.
• Recommends to a legislative body at least two maps of electoral district boundaries, of which the legislative body must choose one to adopt without modification.

SB 1108 allows a local jurisdiction to adopt any type of redistricting commission by enacting a charter amendment, in addition to adopting a commission by ordinance or resolution as allowed under existing law.

If a county has established an independent redistricting commission, SB 1018 allows a city, special district, school district, or community college district within that county to enter into a contract to have the county’s independent redistricting commission set boundaries for that local government.

SB 1018 repeals the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission report to the legislative body on the proposed changes within six months of the final population count from the census is available or August 1^st of the year following the census, whichever is first. The bill also repeals the requirement that an independent redistricting commission adopt boundaries within six months of population figures becoming available or November 1^st, whichever is first. SB 1018 instead provides that the same redistricting deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to the local jurisdiction’s legislative body must apply to a hybrid or independent redistricting commission.

SB 1018 prohibits a person from being appointed to a hybrid redistricting commission or independent redistricting commission if the person or a family member of that person has met certain criteria under existing law within the past four years (as opposed to eight under existing law), including:

• Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
• Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
• Serving as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
• Registering to lobby the local jurisdiction.
• Contributing $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.

However, SB 1018 retains the eight-year prohibition in existing law on elected officials and candidates serving on an independent redistricting commission, and requires hybrid commission membership to comply with this requirement. SB 1018 prohibits a member of a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from being appointed to an office, serving as an employee, receiving a noncompetitively bid contract, or registering as a lobbyist, in the relevant local jurisdiction for two years, instead of four years as provided in existing law.

SB 1018 bars a local government from changing the boundaries adopted by a hybrid or independent redistricting commission until the following decennial census.

SB 1108 applies state laws governing independent redistricting commissions to hybrid redistricting commissions, clarifies that a local jurisdiction may also impose additional qualifications and restrictions for membership on an advisory commission, and makes additional technical and conforming changes.

State Revenue Impact

No estimate.

Comments

1. Purpose of the bill. As we have seen across the nation, allowing elected officials to set the boundaries of their districts allows politicians to choose their voters, instead of the other way around. California voters recognized the importance of having an independent body determine electoral district boundaries when they approved Proposition 11 in 2008 to establish a citizen’s redistricting commission. The success of this commission prompted the California Legislature to authorize cities and counties to establish their own independent commission to either advise on, or actually adopt, district boundaries within those local governments. To date, dozens of cities throughout California have adopted redistricting commissions. But other local governments were left behind. SB 1018 takes the next step by allowing other local governments, including school districts and other special districts, to adopt their own commissions. It also makes it easier for local governments to use this authority by loosening overly prescriptive requirements in state law for commission membership, and authorizes local governments to contract with their county government to establish a single commission that can redraw electoral boundaries for multiple local governments. This saves time and money and makes it more likely that fair, nonpartisan district boundaries will be drawn for smaller and less well-resourced local governments.

2. Who decides? Self-governance is a fundamental precept of democracy—the people subject to the whims of a government should be able to determine that government’s structure. This principle safeguards the right of local voters to choose who represents them, instead of allowing outside influence in governance decisions. Setting electoral district boundaries presents a special case: it may be particularly important for those boundaries to be set by people with an intimate understanding of local conditions so that the boundaries don’t split cohesive communities or, conversely, smash together dissimilar constituencies. SB 1018 potentially violates these principles by allowing local governments to contract with a county independent redistricting commission to set boundaries, without any consideration of whether those redistricting commission members live in or even possess knowledge of the city, special district, or school district for which they will be drawing lines. Supporters of SB 1018 argue that having an independent redistricting commission is unequivocally better than having local elected officials set the boundaries that may have electoral consequences for those very officials, even if it means losing some of the benefits of local knowledge. However, the authorization in this bill may be of limited use: only two counties—Los Angeles and San Diego—currently have permanent redistricting commissions, meaning that cities and other local governments in 56 other counties are not currently able to take advantage of this contracting authority. Given that the goal of SB 1018 is to encourage widespread adoption of redistricting commissions, there may be other approaches that are more broadly applicable—without raising these concerns about self-governance. These approaches could include mandating that local governments adopt redistricting commissions or providing state monies to pay for local redistricting commissions.

3. Too much of a good thing? Providing local officials and residents with enough discretion to structure independent redistricting commissions in various ways can be a good thing: local governments are more likely to adopt independent or hybrid redistricting commissions if they feel that they can structure them to meet their local needs. With that goal in mind, SB 1018 expands the pool of potential redistricting committee members by reducing the blackout period during which certain local political figures cannot serve on a commission. However, in doing so, SB 1018 increases the potential for undue influence in the redistricting process. The limits in current law were established as a minimum set of criteria to ensure that no impropriety occurs and that the results are truly independent. Does SB 1018 strike the right balance between providing local flexibility and setting adequately protective standards in state law?

4. Incoming! On April 3^rd, the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee approved SB 1018 by a vote of 4 to 0. The Committee on Governance and Finance is hearing the measure as the committee of second reference.

5. Prior legislation. SB 1108 (Allen, 2016) authorizes cities and counties to establish advisory or independent redistricting commissions. The Committee approved SB 1108 at its April 27, 2016 meeting on a vote of 5 to 0. The same year, SB 958 (Lara, 2016), established a 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission for the County of Los Angeles. The Committee approved SB 958 at its April 20, 2016 meeting on a vote of 5 to 2. In 2017, AB 801 (Weber, 2017) amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the commission to 14 members, expanding the pool of eligibility for applicants, and revised the selection criteria. The Committee approved AB 801 at its June 28, 2017 hearing on a vote of 5 to 2.

Support and Opposition

(4/27/18)

Support: California Common Cause (sponsor); American Civil Liberties Union; League of Women Voters; 3 individuals.

Opposition: Unknown.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON

ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Senator Henry Stern, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: SB Hearing Date: 4/3/18

Subject: Elections: state and local reapportionment

DIGEST

This bill permits specified local jurisdictions to use a hybrid redistricting commission; permits school districts, community college districts, and special districts to create a redistricting commission; and modifies some of the requirements for serving on a local redistricting commission.

ANALYSIS

Existing law:

1. Specifies that a general law city or a county may establish an independent redistricting commission or an advisory redistricting commission by resolution or ordinance.
2. Defines an “advisory redistricting commission” as a body that recommends to a legislative body placement of the district boundaries for that legislative body.
3. Defines an “independent redistricting commission” as a separate body empowered to adopt the district boundaries for a legislative body.
4. Provides that a person who is an elected official of the local jurisdiction, or a family member, staff member, or paid campaign staff of an elected official of the local jurisdiction, shall not be appointed to serve on an advisory redistricting commission.
5. Specifies, among other provisions, that an advisory redistricting commission shall submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for boundary changes and its recommended changes within six months after the final population figures in each federal decennial census have been released or by August 1 of the same year.
6. Provides that the independent redistricting commission shall adopt new boundaries within six months after the final population figures determined in each federal decennial census have been released, but not later than November 1 of the year following the year in which the census is taken.
7. Allows a local jurisdiction to prescribe the manner in which members are appointed to an independent redistricting commission.
8. Prohibits a person, or a family member of a person, from serving on an independent redistricting commission if the person has done any of the following in the preceding eight years:
   1. Been elected or appointed to, or been a candidate for, an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   3. Served as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
   4. Served as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
   5. Been registered to lobby the local jurisdiction.
   6. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
9. Prohibits a member of an independent redistricting commission from doing any of the following:
   1. While serving on the commission, endorse, work for, volunteer for, or make a campaign contribution to, a candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Be a candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction for 10 years commencing with the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
   3. Accept an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction, accept employment to an elected official or candidate for elective office, receive a noncompetitively bid contract with the local jurisdiction, or register as a lobbyist for the local jurisdiction for four year commencing from the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
10. Prohibits the composition of an independent redistricting commission from being entirely of members who are registered to vote with the same political party preference.
11. Requires a map of proposed boundaries be published and made available to the public for at least seven days prior to being adopted.
12. Requires an independent redistricting commission to hold at least three public hearings prior to the hearing at which the new boundaries are adopted.
13. Prohibits an independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favor or discriminates against an incumbent or political candidate.
14. Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that charter counties are subject to state statutes that relate to redistricting seats of the counties' boards of supervisors.
15. Establishes a redistricting commission in the counties of Los Angeles and San Diego and charges it with adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census, as specified.

This bill:

1. Permits a school district, community college district, or a special district to establish an advisory or independent redistricting commission.
2. Defines a “hybrid redistricting commission” to mean a body, other than a legislative body, that is empowered to:
   1. Adopt the district boundaries of a legislative body, but subject to modifications by the legislative body with a supermajority vote.
   2. Recommend to the legislative body two or more maps for adoption by the legislative body without modifications, except as may be required to comply with state or federal law.
3. Clarifies “redistricting” includes “districting.”
4. Allows a local jurisdiction to establish an independent redistricting commission or an advisory redistricting commission by a charter amendment.
5. Allows a local jurisdiction to impose additional qualifications and restrictions on members of the commission in excess of those already prescribed.
6. Deletes the requirement that an advisory redistricting commission submit a report to the legislative body documenting the need for changes to the boundaries and its recommended changes.
7. Adds hybrid redistricting commissions to the same criteria specified for independent redistricting commissions.
8. Modifies the prohibition of a person or family member from serving on a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from eight to four years preceding the person’s application for a commission. This includes:
   1. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a campaign committee or a candidate for elective office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Serving as an officer of, employee of, or paid consultant to, a political party or as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee.
   3. Serving as a staff member of, consultant to, or contracted with, a currently serving elected officer of the local jurisdiction.
   4. Registering to lobby the local jurisdiction.
   5. Contributed $500 or more in a year to any candidate for an elective office of the local jurisdiction.

1. Changes from four to two years the following prohibitions commencing from the date of an individual’s appointment to the commission:
   1. Accept an appointment to an office of the local jurisdiction.
   2. Accept employment to an elected official or candidate for elective office.
   3. Receive a noncompetitively bid contract with the local jurisdiction.
   4. Register as a lobbyist for the local jurisdiction for four year commencing with the date of his or her appointment to the commission.
2. Aligns hybrid and independent redistricting commission’s deadlines, requirements, and restrictions that would otherwise apply to a legislative body.
3. Prohibits a hybrid or independent redistricting commission from drawing districts that favors or discriminates against a political party.
4. Requires that district boundaries adopted for a legislative body using a hybrid or independent redistricting commission model not be altered until after the next federal census.
5. Permits a general law city within a county that has an existing independent redistricting commission to contract with that county to have the commission adopt the city council district boundaries for that city.
6. Makes technical and clarifying changes.

BACKGROUND

California Citizens Redistricting Commission: In November 2008, California voters passed Proposition 11, otherwise known as the Voters First Act. The ballot measure authorized the creation of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commission consisted of 14 registered voters (five Democrats, five Republicans, and four others), and was given the responsibility for establishing district lines for the Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization. In 2010, voters passed Proposition 20 which, among other provisions, gave the commission the responsibility of establishing lines for California’s congressional districts.

Creation of Local Commissions: Since the establishment of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, many local governments created their own redistricting entities. According to the California Local Redistricting Project’s 2017 report, California Local Redistricting Commissions: Landscape, Consideration, and Best Practices, there have been 37 California local governments who either established or used a redistricting commission to recommend or redraw election district boundaries following the 2010 census. In addition, even though most of these commissions were designed for the 2010 redistricting cycle, 17 are permanent commissions, each have their own parameters and are reestablished after each census.

Los Angeles County Citizens Redistricting Commission: In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 958 (Lara), Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016. This bill established the Citizens Redistricting Commission for the County of Los Angeles. This bill established a 14-member redistricting commission to adjust the boundary lines for Los Angeles County’s supervisorial districts in accordance with specified criteria. Among the criteria established for the commission’s composition, membership required that political party preference be as proportional as possible to the registered voter population in Los Angeles County.

San Diego County Independent Redistricting Commission: In 2017, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed AB 801 (Weber), Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017. This bill amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the commission to 14 members, expanding the pool of eligibility for applicants, and revised the selection criteria. The composition and structure was based off the model used in Los Angeles County.

Unlike the Los Angeles County’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, San Diego County’s model amended the commission’s structure established in SB 1331 (Kehoe), Chapter 508, Statutes of 2012, which randomly selected five retired state or federal judges to serve on the county’s redistricting commission.

State and Local Redistricting: In 2016, the Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed SB 1108 (Allen), Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016. This bill permitted all counties and cities to establish a commission, composed of residents of the county or city, to either adopt a redistricting plan themselves or recommend changes.

At the time, charter counties, general law counties, and general law cities were not authorized the same level of authority over the conduct of elections as charter cities. These jurisdictions were unable to provide for the creation of a redistricting commission that has the authority to adopt a redistricting plan. State law prevented cities and counties from establishing an independent redistricting commission. While the bill did not require all counties and cities to create a redistricting commission, it removed the barrier and granted the authority to do so.

Modifying Existing Restrictions for Applicants and Commissioners: SB 1018 modifies the time length used for disqualifying qualifications for applicants applying to serve on a redistricting commission as well as the restrictions used for current and former commissioners. This includes modifying many of the current restrictions from 8 to 4 years and from 4 to 2 years. A number of existing redistricting commissions have varying disqualifying criteria and restrictions for current and former commissioners with little consensus over what and for how long these restrictions should bar a person who is either applying or serving on a redistricting commission. This bill seeks to set a broader baseline for local jurisdictions to decide what qualifications are important and for how long certain prohibitions should remain in effect.

Emergence of Hybrid Redistricting Commissions: As an attempt to bridge the divide between local governments and good government groups, hybrid redistricting commissions provides an additional model for municipalities when redistricting. A hybrid redistricting commission has the ability to recommend new district boundaries, but usually must consult the local governing body before final adoption.

SB 1018 provides hybrid redistricting commissions with two options when establishing a commission. The first type of hybrid redistricting commission empowers a commission to adopt the district boundaries for a legislative body unless modifications are made by the governing body with a supermajority vote. An example of this is Pasadena Unified School District’s Redistricting Commission. In 2012, Pasadena voters approved an amendment to the city’s charter for the creation of a hybrid redistricting commission for the Pasadena Unified School District. This redistricting commission proposes a district map and, unless amended by a two-thirds majority of the Pasadena’s Board of Education, is adopted. Alternatively, if the legislative body fails to act within 60 calendar days of the submission of final report and recommended plan, then the hybrid redistricting commission’s recommended districts are adopted.

The second type of hybrid redistricting commission allows the commission to submit to a legislative body two or more maps to the local legislative body. The legislative body must adopt one of those maps without modification unless a modification is required to comply with state or federal law. An example of this was seen in 2015 in the City of Merced’s Independent Districting Advisory Committee. This committee was charged with dividing Merced into six districts that would be used for the future election of city council members in 2016. The committee submitted a number of recommendations to the Merced City Council. The Council was not authorized to make amendments to the proposed maps and adopted one of the proposed maps.

COMMENTS

1. According to the author: SB 1018 clarifies and streamlines current law to ensure a smooth process for local redistricting after the 2020 census. Senator Allen authored SB 1108 in 2016, which authorized all counties and cities to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. Several jurisdictions have or are in the process of creating commissions pursuant to the new authority granted under SB 1108, but this has revealed that some clarifications in the law are needed. This bill makes improvements and clarifications to existing law including clarifying that jurisdictions may create hybrid commissions, prohibiting independent commissions from drawing lines for the purpose of benefiting or discriminating against a political party and relaxing some of the commissioner eligibility requirements to allow more citizens to participate in the process.

Furthermore this bill authorizes school districts, community college districts and special districts to establish an independent or advisory redistricting commission. These changes will streamline the redistricting process for local districts and bring more transparency and nonpartisan redistricting to counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California.

1. Suggested Amendments: Committee staff recommends the following amendments:
   1. A technical amendments on page 3, line 19, changing “of” to “or” so it reads, “state or federal law.”
   2. In order to clarify whether local jurisdictions have the ability to create a hybrid redistricting commission, the author may want to consider adding “hybrid redistricting commission” into Section 2 of the bill that amends Elections Code §23001.
   3. In order to align the bill with the recent amendments that add additional jurisdictions, committee staff recommends that Section 5 of the bill adding Elections Code §23004 be amended to permit school board districts, community college districts, and special districts to contract with a county with an existing independent redistricting commission to have that commission adopt the district boundaries for that jurisdiction.
2. Arguments in Support: In a letter of support, California Common Cause stated the following:

SB 1018 clarifies the original intent of SB 1108 by making it clearer that commissions may be used for an initial districting, and not simply a redistricting, and by clarifying that hybrid commissions, where both the local government and commission share authority in adopting final maps, must meet the same standards of independence and transparency required of independent commissions.

SB 1018 also makes independent commission easier for local governments to set up, by relaxing some of the commissioner eligibility requirements, standardizing commission deadlines to align with local legislative deadline, and authorizing cities to contract with their county to have the county’s independent redistricting commission draw the city’s election districts, where such a commission exists. Finally, SB 1018 protects best practice by prohibiting independent commissions from drawing lines in order to benefit or discriminate against a political party.

California Common Cause strongly support SB 1018, which will make it easier for local government to adopt transparent, nonpartisan commissions to draw district boundaries, and to eliminate the inherent conflict of interest in having local elected officials draw their own election districts.

RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION

SB 958 (Lara), Chapter 781, Statutes of 2016, established the Citizens Redistricting Commission in the County of Los Angeles.

SB 1108 (Allen), Chapter 784, Statutes of 2016, allows any county or general law city or county to establish a redistricting commission to change the boundaries of county supervisors’ or city council members’ electoral districts following a federal census.

AB 801 (Weber), Chapter 711, Statutes of 2017, amended the composition and structure of the Independent Redistricting Commission in the County of San Diego by increasing the membership of the commission to 14 members and revising the selection process. This bill amended the commission’s structure established in SB 1331 (Kehoe), Chapter 508, Statutes of 2012.

POSITIONS

Sponsor: California Common Cause

Support: None Received

Oppose: None Received

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