| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Legislature; amending s. 1 of |
| 3 | chapter 2010-91, Laws of Florida; requiring the |
| 4 | Legislature to enact the maps of the state legislative and |
| 5 | congressional districts by a specified date in the year |
| 6 | 2012; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | WHEREAS, the data and software to draw maps for the purpose |
| 9 | of reapportionment are available to all members of the |
| 10 | Legislature and the public, and |
| 11 | WHEREAS, Florida's schedule for apportioning legislative |
| 12 | districts is one of the latest in the nation and was created |
| 13 | before many of the advances in computing which allow maps to be |
| 14 | drawn nearly instantaneously, and |
| 15 | WHEREAS, it could take months for federal and state |
| 16 | agencies and the courts to approve all maps generated by the |
| 17 | Legislature, and |
| 18 | WHEREAS, if the present timeline remains intact, the best |
| 19 | case is that the citizens of the state will know their |
| 20 | legislative districts only days before candidates are required |
| 21 | to qualify, and |
| 22 | WHEREAS, the citizens of this state have the right to seek |
| 23 | public office and have a reasonable time to qualify and run |
| 24 | competitive races, and |
| 25 | WHEREAS, the citizens of this state should have the benefit |
| 26 | of an orderly election cycle that allows sufficient time to |
| 27 | review and decide on the candidate of their choice, NOW, |
| 28 | THEREFORE, |
| 29 |
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| 30 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 31 |
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| 32 | Section 1. Section 1 of chapter 2010-91, Laws of Florida, |
| 33 | is amended to read: |
| 34 | Section 1. (1) In accordance with subsection (b) of |
| 35 | Section 3 of Article III of the State Constitution and in lieu |
| 36 | of the date fixed therein, the 2012 Regular Session of the |
| 37 | Legislature shall convene on January 10, 2012. |
| 38 | (2) By January 15, 2012, the Legislature shall enact the |
| 39 | maps for the state legislative and congressional districts which |
| 40 | are in accordance with the State Constitution and the United |
| 41 | States Constitution. |
| 42 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |