REDISTRICTING PLAN PROBABLY WON'T REACH BALLOT
Modesto Bee, The (CA)
June 30, 2006
Cogdill. Aghazarian. Matthews. Denham. Poochigian. Pombo. Cardoza. Radanovich.
The names might sound familiar, but which lawmakers represent you? The confusion is understandable.
Left up to the state Legislature, legislative and congressional boundaries in California look more like a governmental jigsaw puzzle than an easy-to-read road map. Both parties benefit under the redistricting system, which long has been criticized as more dedicated to protecting incumbents than to serving voters.
Although the state Senate was expected to vote Thursday on the latest proposal to overhaul the system, it left for a five-week recess without taking action. That left one of its sponsors skeptical of its chances of making the November ballot.
"I think it's a long shot ... ," said state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach , the amendment's co-author. "It's very late in the process."
Lowenthal said he couldn't line up enough votes to get the amendment out of the Senate on Thursday but would bring it up when lawmakers return in August.
Thursday was supposed to be the deadline for lawmakers to add ballot measures, but Lowenthal said they could approve the amendment as late as the end of August and still take it to voters in November.
Though other redistricting plans have been criticized and rejected through the years -- including a Gov. Schwarzenegger proposal last November -this one's getting good reviews.
REMOVE LAWMAKERS' CRAYONS
The legislation, Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, would strip lawmakers of the power to draw their own districts, giving the responsibility to an independent commission selected mostly by judges.
The commission would start drawing boundaries in 2011 after new census data are released.
It would define boundaries that are compact; use "geographic features," such as city and county boundaries; and comply with voting-rights laws.
The commission would be asked to keep together "communities of interest," defined as populations that share the same values, interests, backgrounds and culture. In short, it would prevent important historical neighborhoods from being split up.
Under the current system, the state Legislature redraws boundaries every 10 years. In effect, incumbents are able to protect their seats.
"The elected officials pick their voters instead of the voters picking their elected officials," said David Schecter, a political science professor at California State University , Fresno .
"This is a good bill," said Schecter, who has written extensively about redistricting . "This is the kind of bill California has needed for 20 years."
The legislation must pass the Senate and Assembly and be approved by voters. The authors are targeting November's ballot.
DIDN'T WORK LAST TIME
In November, voters rejected the last attempt at change. Proposition 77 would have left redistricting up to a panel of three retired judges, who would draw new districts for the 2006 elections instead of waiting for the next census in 2010. Opponents criticized it as a power grab by the governor.
Schecter, who opposed the proposition, said the new plan puts more sunshine on the process. The legislation calls for the commission to meet in public and display redistricting maps for 30 days before they become final.
The proposal hasn't gotten a warm reception from everyone.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and the Los Angeles County Chicano Employees Association both oppose it. Some feel the commission should hold four public hearings before presenting its map and that commissioners should have some experience in redistricting .
Shakari Byerly, a project manager at the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies, says she agrees there is room for improvement. She wants an even more independent commission. The legislation allows legislative leaders some say over the final selection.
State Senate debate could center on the "nesting" require- ment, the concept of two As- sembly districts fitting into each Senate district. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials wants the provision removed because it believes it harms minority representation.
State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, said he wants nesting included because it allows voters to identify who represents them. His own district stops in Modesto on its stretch from Lodi to eastern Fresno County and includes seven Assembly districts.
"That's confusing to a lot of people," he said. "They wonder whose district they're in."
To find out what district you live in, go to www.smartvoter.org/voter/search.html.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-------------------
REDRAWING LINES
New legislation would create an 11-member commission to redraw congressional, state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts. The commission would consist of four Democrats, four Republicans and three independents. Here's how the commission would be selected:
* Ten retired appellate judges nominate 50 candidates - 19 Democrats, 19 Republicans and 12 independents.
* The four state legislative partisan leaders - historically Republicans and Democrats - strike up to two candidates from the opposite party.
* They then select two candidates each from their own parties, leaving eight appointees.
* These eight appointees then select three appointees from the pool of 12 independents, giving the commission a total of 11 members.
---
Copyright 2006 The Modesto Bee
Author: E.J. SCHULTZ, BEE CAPITOL BUREAU
Section: LOCAL NEWS
Page: B5
Dateline: SACRAMENTO
Copyright 2006 The Modesto Bee