Hope for redistricting

Hope for redistricting

Fresno Bee, The (CA)

June 20, 2006

The state Legislature reportedly is close to passing a proposed constitutional amendment that would give the power of drawing legislative and congressional district lines to an independent commission. This reform is long overdue, and we urge the Legislature to put the amendment on the November ballot. Voters would have to support the change before it would go into effect.

We hope legislators are serious about solving this problem, and not giving positive signs about reforming the redistricting process, only to find a reason to pull back. We have become very cynical about the Legislature's motives.

Redistricting reform is a crucial step in fixing California government, which is now mostly beholden to special interests.

Under the current system, legislators are not accountable to voters because they have rigged their re-elections by drawing district boundaries that limit competition. That system must change.

The Associated Press reported Monday that a constitutional amendment that would transfer redistricting power to an 11-member commission appears to have support in the state Senate. Assembly Speaker Fabián Núñez also said there isn't significant opposition in the Assembly. We hope that's true.

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who is carrying the redistricting bill, told the AP that he hopes the Senate will pass it this week, and the Assembly will quickly follow. The amendment needs to get through the process by the end of the month to get it on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Last November, voters turned down a redistricting proposal that was a victim of the political sparring between Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. This measure meets Democratic concerns by creating a broader-based redistricting commission. Proposition 77, which was defeated, would have created a panel of retired judges.

The current system has a built-in conflict of interest because legislators draw the boundaries of their own districts. They seldom act in the public interest when their political futures are at stake. They have stacked the deck very well. In the 2004 election, 153 legislative and congressional seats were on the ballot in California . Not one seat changed parties.

We have long pushed for redistricting reform and believe that a more accountable Legislature will be more effective in dealing with the state's toughest problems. It's time for the Legislature to let go of its redistricting power.

---

Author: THE FRESNO BEE

Section: LOCAL NEWS

Page: B8