Florida Senate - 2022 SJR 100
By Senator Rodrigues
27-01186A-22 2022100__
1 Senate Joint Resolution
2 A joint resolution of apportionment; providing for the
3 apportionment of the House of Representatives and the
4 Senate (plans ______ and _______); adopting the United
5 States Decennial Census of 2020 for use in such
6 apportionment; defining terms; providing for the
7 inclusion of omitted areas; providing contiguity for
8 areas specified for inclusion in one district which
9 are noncontiguous; specifying that the apportioned
10 districts constitute the legislative districts of the
11 state; specifying that electronic maps serve as the
12 official maps of the legislative districts of the
13 state; providing for the public availability of
14 electronic maps; providing for severability of invalid
15 portions; providing for application beginning in 2022.
16
17 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Official census for apportionment; definitions.—
20 (1) In accordance with Section 8(a), Article X of the State
21 Constitution, the United States Decennial Census of 2020 is the
22 official census of the state for the purposes of this joint
23 resolution.
24 (2) The following delineation of representative and
25 senatorial districts employs areas included within official
26 county, tract, block group, and block boundary descriptions used
27 by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
28 Census, in compiling the United States Decennial Census of 2020
29 in this state. The populations within these census geographic
30 units are the population figures reported in the counts of the
31 United States Decennial Census of 2020 provided to the state in
32 accordance with Pub. L. No. 94-171.
33 (3) As used in this joint resolution, the term:
34 (a) “Block” describes the smallest geographic unit for
35 which population was tabulated in the 2020 decennial census.
36 Blocks are nested within tracts and within block groups. A block
37 is identified by a three-character number that is unique within
38 a block group.
39 (b) “Block equivalency file” describes a list of all blocks
40 within the state and the representative or senatorial district
41 number designated for each block. Blocks are listed by a 15
42 character number that combines the five-character county-level
43 Federal Information Processing System (FIPS) code, the six
44 character tract number with leading zeros and an implied
45 decimal, the single-character block group number, and the three
46 character block number.
47 (c) “Block group” describes a cluster of blocks within the
48 same census tract. Block groups are nested within tracts, and
49 are uniquely identified by a single character number with a
50 valid range of 0 through 9.
51 (d) “County” describes a legal governmental subdivision of
52 the state. Boundaries of counties described in this joint
53 resolution reflect those boundaries in effect as of January 1,
54 2020.
55 (e) “Geographical information systems map” describes an
56 electronic map that represents the boundaries of representative
57 and senatorial districts in a commonly accepted and readable
58 format.
59 (f) “Tract” describes a relatively permanent statistical
60 subdivision of a county. Tracts are nested within counties, and
61 are uniquely identified by an up to four-character number and a
62 two-digit suffix identified by a decimal.
63 Section 2. Representative districts.—For the election of
64 members to the House of Representatives of this state, the state
65 is apportioned into 120 consecutively numbered, single-member,
66 representative districts of contiguous territory, to be
67 designated by such numbers as follows:
68
69 Section 3. Senatorial districts.—For the election of
70 members to the Senate of this state, the state is apportioned
71 into 40 consecutively numbered, single-member senatorial
72 districts of contiguous territory, to be designated by such
73 numbers as follows:
74
75 Section 4. Territory not specified for inclusion in any
76 district.—Any portion of the state which is not stated in this
77 joint resolution as being included in any district described in
78 this joint resolution but which is entirely surrounded by a
79 district shall be deemed to be included within the surrounding
80 district. Any portion of the state which is not included in any
81 district described in this joint resolution and which is not
82 entirely surrounded by a district shall be included within that
83 district contiguous to the portion that contains the least
84 population per legislator according to the United States
85 Decennial Census of 2020; however, if every district contiguous
86 to such portion has an equal population, such portion shall be
87 included within the lowest-numbered district that is contiguous
88 to such portion.
89 Section 5. Territory specified for inclusion in one
90 district which is noncontiguous.—If any district described in
91 this joint resolution is composed of noncontiguous territory,
92 the noncontiguous portion that has the least population shall be
93 included in the district that is contiguous to such portion and
94 that has the least population; however, if every district
95 contiguous to such portion has an equal population, such portion
96 shall be included within the lowest-numbered district that is
97 contiguous to such portion.
98 Section 6. Districts to constitute representative and
99 senatorial districts of state.—The districts created by this
100 joint resolution constitute and form the representative and
101 senatorial districts of the state, and members of the
102 Legislature shall be elected in and for these representative and
103 senatorial districts as provided by law.
104 Section 7. Electronic maps to serve as the official maps of
105 representative and senatorial districts; availability.—
106 (1) Geographical information systems maps and block
107 equivalency files representing the boundaries of representative
108 and senatorial districts described in this joint resolution
109 shall serve as the official maps of the representative and
110 senatorial districts of the state. In the event of any conflict
111 between the descriptions of districts set forth in this joint
112 resolution, geographical information systems maps, or block
113 equivalency files, the descriptions in the block equivalency
114 files shall prevail.
115 (2) Within 10 days of a judgment of the Florida Supreme
116 Court determining the apportionment provided for in this joint
117 resolution to be valid, the geographical information systems
118 maps and block equivalency files representing the boundaries of
119 the representative and senatorial districts described in this
120 joint resolution shall be made available to the public by the
121 Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
122 Section 8. Severability.—If any provision of this joint
123 resolution or the application thereof to any person or
124 circumstance is held invalid, or if any representative or
125 senatorial district established in this joint resolution is held
126 invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
127 applications of this joint resolution, or any other districts
128 established in this joint resolution, which can be given effect
129 without the invalid provision or application, and to this end
130 the provisions of this joint resolution are severable.
131 Section 9. Applicability.—This joint resolution applies
132 with respect to the qualification, nomination, and election of
133 members of the Legislature in the primary and general elections
134 held in 2022 and thereafter.