Lawmakers fail again to approve redistricting change
By: Steven lawrence
Date: 09/12/2007
Once again, California lawmakers have failed to agree on legislation that would strip them of the powerful role of drawing the state's legislative and congressional districts.
The Legislature adjourned its 2007 regular session early Wednesday morning without approving any of four constitutional amendments that would have created a state commission to redraw the districts after each national census.
And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not include redistricting among the topics for lawmakers to consider in a special session he called Tuesday to deal with water and health care issues.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said the Senate would not have taken up any redistricting legislation if Schwarzenegger had included the topic in the special session.
"There is no reason to do that," he told reporters. "We can do it next year and still put it on the November ballot. ... There is urgency in water and health care. There is no urgency in redistricting."
But Christina Lokke, a lobbyist for California Common Cause, a political reform group, said she was not confident lawmakers would approve a redistricting change next year.
"How many times can they promise, 'Next year we'll do it; next year we'll do it?' and they never follow through," she said. "It's gotten to the point where it's ridiculous."
Janis Hirohama, president of the League of Women Voters of California, said Schwarzenegger should reconsider and include redistricting among special session topics.
"If legislators had the will to do it, they could put a bill together in a week," she said in a statement. "Californians deserve better from their elected representatives than the stalling and delays we've seen."
A spokesman for Schwarzenegger, Aaron McLear, said the governor was open to the idea of including redistricting in the special session but wanted to consult with legislative leaders on what the next move should be.
"We're absolutely still committed to getting redistricting reform," he said.
Redistricting is a politically powerful process because it can determine which party dominates the Legislature and the state's congressional delegation.
Critics say allowing lawmakers to draw their districts creates a conflict of interest and produces plans that favor one political party or incumbents on both sides of the aisle.
Following the 2000 census, lawmakers drew districts that tended to freeze the partisan lineups in the Legislature and the congressional delegation. Since then, only four seats — three in the Legislature and one in Congress — have changed parties.
For most of the last 50 years, Democrats have been the dominant party in California , while Republicans have supported several unsuccessful efforts to take redistricting powers away from lawmakers.
In the latest attempt, in 2005, voters soundly rejected Proposition 77, a GOP-backed measure that would have given redistricting duties to a panel of retired judges.
Despite the defeat of Proposition 77, the Legislature's Democratic leaders promised to pursue legislation that would create a redistricting commission. Lawmakers failed to agree on a redistricting change last year.
This year, there seemed to be increased pressure to reach a compromise because Schwarzenegger indicated that he would oppose an initiative liberalizing lawmakers' term limits if they failed to put a redistricting change on the same Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot.
Again, no deal.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't come to agreement, but we haven't given up on it...," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D- Los Angeles . "There is no reason (we couldn't) come back in January and try to get it done."
Differences this year included how to structure the commission and whether it should also draw congressional districts.
If lawmakers fail to act, they could find another redistricting initiative on the ballot in 2008.
Ted Costa, a political activist who was the lead author of Proposition 77, is trying to raise enough money to put a redistricting proposal on the June's ballot. He says he's about a third of the way there.
His plan would create an 11-member redistricting commission drawn from a pool of 160,000 voters — 2,000 from each Assembly district — who agree to serve on the panel.
"I feel voters ought to have real redistricting reform," Costa said. "Most of the proposals put out there are kind of flawed. That's being real mild when I say they are flawed."