State gears up for groundbreaking change in legislative maps in 2011

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

July 8, 2009

SACRAMENTO - State officials are in the early stages of redrawing California's political districts with a first-in-the-nation process that has major implications for the Inland area.

Riverside and San Bernardino counties stand to get more political representation after the once-a-decade redistricting maps emerge in 2011.

Between now and then, officials will have to move Prop. 11 from proposal to practice.

Narrowly approved by voters in November, the initiative removes the Legislature from most redistricting decisions. Instead, a 14-member Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will draw the lines of California's 120 legislative districts and four Board of Equalization districts. Congressional districts still will be drawn by the Legislature.

The California State Auditor is charged with carrying out Prop. 11. The agency, which probes the state bureaucracy, played no part in writing the law, which is unlike any of the dozen other redistricting commissions in the United States.

The auditor recently hired a public-relations firm to drum up interest in the panel. In the coming days, the auditor will release draft regulations to select candidates for the commission.

"It's new for us and California," auditor spokeswoman Margarita Fernandez said. "It's a tight schedule, but as with any project we get from the Legislature or mandate, that's what we're working toward."

California's process was center stage at a recent redistricting conference in San Francisco hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"There's a big learning curve understanding the law, the process, and to some degree, the politics," said Tim Storey of the legislatures conference. "It's not even clear who the staff are going to be or who the members of commission are going to be. I think it's going to be exceptionally challenging this first cycle."

Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento, said Prop. 11 will take time to carry out.

"We are inevitably, inescapably, going to be behind the curve," said Hodson, a former Senate redistricting aide. "We're going to be behind but that doesn't mean the commission can't get it done."

Determines power

Redistricting is one of those government processes that can cause people's eyes to glaze over. The outcome, though, affects everything from political careers to voting rights.

Before Prop. 11, there had been several unsuccessful efforts to overhaul how California draws its political boundaries. Complaints surged after the 2001 redistricting.

The Legislature drew oddly shaped districts that maximized each party's political power, with only a handful of competitive seats in the state.

In Riverside County, for example, the GOP-leaning 64th Assembly District snakes from the Coachella Valley to Riverside.

Prop. 11 stresses that the new districts to emerge in 2011 and thereafter need to be compact, preserve "communities of interest" and minimize splitting of counties and cities. Also, the redistricting commission of five Democrats, five Republicans and four members of other parties or independents can't craft districts that favor one party or the other.

So far, the auditor has paid for Prop. 11 work from its existing budget. Lawmakers recently allocated $3 million for the Prop. 11 process. The money awaits final approval.

Some say that won't be enough. In Arizona, litigation over that state's redistricting process -- also involving an independent panel -- cost millions in legal fees.

"Is $3 million enough for the process itself? It's certainly less than ideal," said Doug Johnson, a redistricting expert at the Rose Institute at Claremont McKenna College.

Inland effect

Riverside and San Bernardino counties have added almost a million people since the 2000 census. The region's share of the state population has increased by about 13 percent during that time.

Based on 2009 population estimates, the region's share of the state population seems to entitle it to additional representation in the Legislature worth one Assembly district and one-half a Senate district.

"It improves the odds that they'll get representation to match their growth," Johnson said of Prop. 11.

As for Congress, redistricting depends on reapportionment, the nationwide process of allotting congressional seats among all 50 states based on population. California grew during the 2000s, but some other state populations grew more.

Storey said he thinks California will hold on to its existing 53 congressional seats in 2011, but will not gain any.

If California stays at 53 districts, the two-county Inland area would deserve additional congressional representation equal to two-thirds of a district, based on 2009 population estimates.