Redistricting reform is a high priority for many Leagues and League members in California.

ACTION NEEDED (Contact information is listed below):

1. Contact Governor Schwarzenegger:

• Thank him for his leadership in seeking to remove redistricting from the hands of the legislature and give the task to an independent redistricting commission.
• Express your appreciation for his recent statement that new district lines do not need to be drawn immediately.
• Urge him to work with legislative leaders from both parties to craft a LEGISLATIVE proposal that meets the League's standards listed below.
• Ask him to use his influence to put any initiative containing mid-decade redistricting on hold while a legislative solution is pursued.

2. Contact your Assembly Member and Senator:

• Urge them to take an active role in seeing that the legislature considers and passes a redistricting reform measure that meets the standards listed below. As a proposed constitutional amendment, such a measure will need bipartisan support for a two-thirds vote. Ask them to tell their party's leaders that this is a priority.
• If possible, send a copy of your communication to the legislative leaders and Elections Committee chairs listed below.

BACKGROUND:

The League believes that reform of the redistricting process should include:

• an independent commission to draw the lines for congressional, state senate, state assembly, and Board of Equalization districts. This panel should reflect our state's diversity of population and political thought.
• an open process with information readily available to the public, opportunities for public comment at all stages, and restrictions on "closed-door" operations by the commission
• fair criteria for drawing district lines. Districts should have equal population, be drawn to protect the voting strength of minority communities, and respect communities of interest and boundaries of cities and counties. Preferential treatment of any one party or protection of incumbents should not be allowed.

Furthermore, the League feels that redistricting should be done only once a decade. Drawing new lines immediately on passage of a reform measure in the middle of this decade would require the use of census data that are no longer accurate enough to meet constitutional standards. In addition, if a redistricting measure were on a special November 2005 ballot, an immediate redistricting would cause chaos for the June 2006 primary.

Although an initiative to change redistricting in California is being circulated, real reform must go through the legislature, where proposals can be examined and improvements to them made. No changes can be made to initiatives that have started through the process. The League is concerned about some of the provisions in the current initiative, especially the one that calls for mid-decade redistricting.

Several proposals to have districts drawn by an independent panel have been introduced in the legislature, but they have not made any headway in the legislative process. None has even been scheduled for a hearing in policy committee. The Assembly District Representation Committee held an informational hearing on redistricting on April 14 but has not announced plans for a hearing on the bills referred to it.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, including the League's stand on these redistricting bills, go to "Redistricting".

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Find your own senator and assembly member.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841; Fax 916-445-4633
Or contact a field office in Fresno, L.A., Riverside, San Diego, or San Francisco; see "Contact the Governor" at www.governor.ca.gov

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001
916-319-2046; Fax 916-319-2146
speaker.nunez@assembly.ca.gov

Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001
916-319-2032; Fax 916-319-2132
assemblymember.mccarthy@assembly.ca.gov

Assembly District Representation Committee Chair Tom Umberg
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001
916-319-2094; Fax 916-319-2194
assemblymember.umberg@assembly.ca.gov
(This committee is the special-session version of the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee.)

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata
P.O. Box 942848
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001
916-445-6577 or 916-651-4009; Fax 916-327-1997
senator.perata@sen.ca.gov

Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman
P.O. Box 942848
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001
916-651-4033; Fax 916-445-9754
senator.ackerman@sen.ca.gov

Senate Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee Chair Debra Bowen
P.O. Box 942848
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001
916-651-4106; Fax 916-445-2496
senator.bowen@sen.ca.gov