Florida Senate - 2016 SB 1252
By Senator Joyner
19-01553A-16 20161252__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to legislative and congressional
3 redistricting; creating s. 11.31, F.S.; creating an
4 independent commission on legislative and
5 congressional redistricting; providing for the
6 purpose, membership, and duties of the commission;
7 providing public hearing and reporting requirements of
8 the commission; providing for legislative
9 appropriations; amending s. 120.80, F.S.; exempting
10 the commission from the rulemaking requirements of the
11 Administrative Procedure Act; providing a contingent
12 effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Section 11.31, Florida Statutes, is created to
17 read:
18 11.31 Independent commission on legislative and
19 congressional redistricting.—
20 (1)(a) To implement s. 16, Art. III of the State
21 Constitution, an independent commission on legislative and
22 congressional redistricting is created within the legislative
23 branch of state government.
24 (b) The commission shall conduct the state’s decennial
25 legislative and congressional redistricting, including, but not
26 limited to, preparing and adopting redistricting plans and
27 conducting public hearings on proposed plans.
28 (2) The commission shall consist of 12 members appointed
29 pursuant to subsection (3). Each member shall be a private
30 citizen who meets the requirements of this section, who has been
31 registered to vote in Florida with the same political party or
32 without party affiliation as determined by statewide voter
33 registration for the 5 years immediately preceding his or her
34 appointment to the commission, and who has voted in each of the
35 last two statewide general elections immediately preceding his
36 or her appointment to the commission. A person is ineligible to
37 serve on the commission if he or she has donated a maximum
38 allowable political contribution to any candidate for any
39 statewide office within the last 5 years, or if the person or
40 his or her immediate family member:
41 (a) Has had, at any time during the 5 years immediately
42 preceding his or her appointment to the commission, or currently
43 has a financial relationship with an individual or group who
44 themselves would be ineligible to serve on the commission
45 pursuant to this section.
46 (b) Has served, at any time during the 5 years immediately
47 preceding his or her appointment to the commission, or currently
48 serves as an elected or appointed statewide officer or member of
49 the United States Congress, the Legislature, or a city council
50 or city or county board of commissioners.
51 (c) Has served, at any time during the 5 years immediately
52 preceding his or her appointment to the commission, or currently
53 serves as a federal, state, or local lobbyist.
54 (d) Has served, at any time during the 5 years immediately
55 preceding his or her appointment to the commission, or currently
56 serves as an employee of:
57 1. The Federal Government.
58 2. The United States Congress.
59 3. An executive agency of the state.
60 4. The Legislature.
61 5. A constitutional officer.
62 6. A political subdivision of the state.
63
64 For purposes of this paragraph, a person who has retired from
65 active duty in any branch of the United States Armed Forces or
66 currently serves or has previously served in the United States
67 Armed Forces Reserve is not ineligible as a result of such
68 military service.
69 (e) Has been employed or compensated, at any time during
70 the 5 years immediately preceding his or her appointment to the
71 commission, or is currently employed or compensated in any
72 manner by the campaign committee of a candidate for United
73 States Congress, the Legislature, or statewide office.
74 (f) Has been elected or appointed to serve a national,
75 state, or local political party organization in the state.
76 (g) Has been employed or has been compensated in any manner
77 by a national, state, or local political party organization in
78 the state.
79
80 For purposes of this subsection, the term “immediate family
81 member” includes a current or former spouse, an in-law, a
82 parent, a current or former stepparent or stepchild, a sibling,
83 a child, or a current or former dependent.
84 (3)(a) A person interested in serving on the commission may
85 submit an application to the Auditor General for consideration
86 pursuant to this section.
87 (b) By December 10 of each year evenly divisible by 10, the
88 Auditor General shall create an initial pool of 60 candidates by
89 selecting applications at random from all applications received
90 pursuant to paragraph (a). The initial pool must contain equal
91 representation from five geographic areas of the state
92 corresponding with geographic boundaries of the district courts
93 of appeal and must contain 20 Republicans, 20 Democrats, and 20
94 voters who are registered with other political parties in the
95 state or who are without party affiliation.
96 (c) The Auditor General shall transmit a list containing
97 the initial pool of candidates to the Legislature. The Majority
98 Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate and the Majority Leader
99 and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives shall each
100 be permitted to eliminate an equal number of candidates from the
101 initial pool until the pool of candidates is narrowed to 24
102 persons. The Legislature shall return the narrowed list to the
103 Auditor General.
104 (d) From the narrowed list, the Auditor General shall, by
105 lottery, select 12 commission members consisting of four
106 Republicans, four Democrats, and four persons who are registered
107 with other political parties in the state or who are without
108 party affiliation.
109 (e) After the Auditor General completes the process of
110 selecting 12 commission members, he or she shall establish and
111 publish in the Florida Administrative Register the time, date,
112 and location of the first commission meeting.
113 (f)1. Seven commission members, including three Republicans
114 and three Democrats, shall constitute a quorum. The chair and
115 vice chair of the commission may each be one of the commission
116 members counted to establish a quorum.
117 2. Seven or more affirmative votes, including three votes
118 from a Republican member and three votes from a Democratic
119 member, shall be required for any official action of the
120 commission. However, the approval of any final redistricting
121 plan shall require an affirmative vote of at least eight
122 commission members, including three Republicans, three
123 Democrats, and two persons who are registered with other
124 political parties in the state or who are without party
125 affiliation.
126 3. The commission members shall, by seven or more
127 affirmative votes as described in subparagraph 2., select one
128 commission member to serve as chair and one commission member to
129 serve as vice chair. The chair and vice chair shall be
130 registered with a political party, but the vice chair may not be
131 registered with the same political party as the chair.
132 (4)(a) The commission shall conduct public hearings as part
133 of its preparation of a redistricting plan. The commission shall
134 establish and publish in the Florida Administrative Register a
135 schedule of hearings and hearing locations as soon as
136 practicable after its first meeting. The hearing process shall
137 include hearings to receive public input before the commission
138 draws a redistricting map. The commission shall also conduct
139 hearings following the drawing and display of draft
140 redistricting maps. The commission shall display the draft maps
141 to the public for comment in a timely manner so as to achieve
142 the widest public dissemination practicable. The commission
143 shall work to ensure that the hearings and display periods
144 provide opportunity for meaningful input from the public,
145 including elected and appointed public officials, at every stage
146 of the redistricting process. The commission shall accept the
147 submission of proposed plans and comments, and conduct hearings,
148 subject to the following:
149 1. The commission may not use partisan data, including, but
150 not limited to, the addresses of any incumbent officeholder, in
151 the redistricting process.
152 2. A member of the public may offer a complete or partial
153 proposed redistricting plan, written comments, and oral
154 testimony, which must be given under oath or affirmation.
155 3. The commission shall adopt rules for the submission of
156 draft and proposed redistricting plans and written comments, and
157 to facilitate the orderly receipt of materials and the taking of
158 sworn or affirmed oral testimony at public hearings. The rules
159 shall provide for full and fair public consideration and debate
160 regarding draft, proposed, and final redistricting plans and all
161 sworn or affirmed oral testimony and written materials received.
162 4. The commission shall hold public hearings in various
163 regions of the state to allow the widest public participation
164 practicable.
165 (b) The Legislature shall annually appropriate funds to the
166 commission for employing professional staff, procuring office
167 space and necessary equipment, and other expenses necessary for
168 the staff to perform their duties. The commission’s office shall
169 be located in Orlando.
170 (c) Commission members and employees are subject to the
171 provisions of chapters 119 and 286, relating to public records
172 and public meetings, and shall comply with the applicable
173 financial disclosure requirements of ss. 112.3148 and 112.3149.
174 (d) The commission shall provide for access to United
175 States census data and shall make software available to the
176 public for drawing proposed district boundaries.
177 (e) The commission shall issue, with each final
178 redistricting plan, a report explaining the basis upon which the
179 commission made its decisions in achieving compliance with the
180 applicable standards required by the State Constitution,
181 particularly when compliance with one standard results in less
182 than full compliance with another standard. The report shall
183 define or describe, as applicable, the terms and standards used
184 in drawing the district boundaries.
185 Section 2. Subsection (19) is added to section 120.80,
186 Florida Statutes, to read:
187 120.80 Exceptions and special requirements; agencies.—
188 (19) INDEPENDENT COMMISSION ON LEGISLATIVE AND
189 CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING.—The rulemaking provisions of this
190 chapter do not apply to the independent commission on
191 legislative and congressional redistricting.
192 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon approval by the
193 electors of SJR ____, or a similar joint resolution having
194 substantially the same specific intent and purpose, if that
195 joint resolution is approved by the electors at the general
196 election to be held in November 2016.