Bill Text: MI HJRXX | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Legislature; legislators; legislators' terms of office; modify. Amends secs. 2 & 3, art. IV of the state constitution.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-03 - Printed Joint Resolution Filed 03/03/2010 [HJRXX Detail]

Download: Michigan-2009-HJRXX-Introduced.html

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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION XX

 

March 2, 2010, Introduced by Rep. Meadows and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

     A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the state

 

constitution of 1963, by amending sections 2 and 3 of article IV,

 

to modify the term of office for certain state offices.

 

     Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the

 

state of Michigan, That the following amendment to the state

 

constitution of 1963, to modify the term of office for certain

 

state offices, is proposed, agreed to, and submitted to the people

 

of the state:

 

ARTICLE IV

 

     Sec. 2. The senate shall consist of 38 members to be elected

 

from single member districts. at the same election as the governor

 

Through 2010, the members of the senate shall serve for four-year

 

terms concurrent with the term of office of the governor. Any

 

senators having served four years or more who are reelected in 2010

 

shall be elected to four-year terms. In 2010, the senate districts

 

shall be divided, by lot, into groups of 13 two-year, 12 four-year,

 

and 13 six-year terms, except that any senate district in which an

 

incumbent is seeking reelection shall be one of the 12 four-year

 

terms. After the 2010 election, senators shall be elected

 

biennially for six-year terms.

 

     In districting the state for the purpose of electing senators

 

after the official publication of the total population count of

 

each federal decennial census, each county shall be assigned

 

apportionment factors equal to the sum of its percentage of the

 

state's population as shown by the last regular federal decennial

 

census computed to the nearest one-one hundredth of one percent

 

multiplied by four and its percentage of the state's land area

 

computed to the nearest one-one hundredth of one percent.

 

     In arranging the state into senatorial districts, the

 

apportionment commission shall be governed by the following rules:

 

     (1) Counties with 13 or more apportionment factors shall be

 

entitled as a class to senators in the proportion that the total

 

apportionment factors of such counties bear to the total

 

apportionment factors of the state computed to the nearest whole

 

number. After each such county has been allocated one senator, the

 

remaining senators to which this class of counties is entitled

 

shall be distributed among such counties by the method of equal

 

proportions applied to the apportionment factors.

 

     (2) Counties having less than 13 apportionment factors shall

 

be entitled as a class to senators in the proportion that the total

 

apportionment factors of such counties bear to the total

 

apportionment factors of the state computed to the nearest whole

 

number. Such counties shall thereafter be arranged into senatorial

 

districts that are compact, convenient, and contiguous by land, as

 

rectangular in shape as possible, and having as nearly as possible

 

13 apportionment factors, but in no event less than 10 or more than

 

16. Insofar as possible, existing senatorial districts at the time

 

of reapportionment shall not be altered unless there is a failure

 

to comply with the above standards.

 

     (3) Counties entitled to two or more senators shall be divided

 

into single member districts. The population of such districts

 

shall be as nearly equal as possible but shall not be less than 75

 

percent nor more than 125 percent of a number determined by

 

dividing the population of the county by the number of senators to

 

which it is entitled. Each such district shall follow incorporated

 

city or township boundary lines to the extent possible and shall be

 

compact, contiguous, and as nearly uniform in shape as possible.

 

     Sec. 3. The house of representatives shall consist of 110

 

members elected for two-year terms from single member districts.

 

apportioned on a basis of population as provided in this article.

 

Through 2010, the members of the house of representatives shall

 

serve two-year terms. At the general election in 2010, the house of

 

representatives districts shall be divided, by lot, into groups of

 

two- and four-year terms, except that any district in which a

 

member having served four years seeks reelection in 2010 shall be

 

counted in the group elected to four-year terms and any district in

 

which a member having served two years seeks reelection in 2010

 

shall be counted in the group elected to two-year terms. After the

 

2010 election, their successors shall be elected biennially for

 

terms of four years. The districts shall consist of compact and

 

convenient territory contiguous by land.

 

     Each county which has a population of not less than seven-

 

tenths of one percent of the population of the state shall

 

constitute a separate representative area. Each county having less

 

than seven-tenths of one percent of the population of the state

 

shall be combined with another county or counties to form a

 

representative area of not less than seven-tenths of one percent of

 

the population of the state. Any county which is isolated under the

 

initial allocation as provided in this section shall be joined with

 

that contiguous representative area having the smallest percentage

 

of the state's population. Each such representative area shall be

 

entitled initially to one representative.

 

     After the assignment of one representative to each of the

 

representative areas, the remaining house seats shall be

 

apportioned among the representative areas on the basis of

 

population by the method of equal proportions.

 

     Any county comprising a representative area entitled to two or

 

more representatives shall be divided into single member

 

representative districts as follows:

 

     (1) The population of such districts shall be as nearly equal

 

as possible but shall not be less than 75 percent nor more than 125

 

percent of a number determined by dividing the population of the

 

representative area by the number of representatives to which it is

 

entitled.

 

     (2) Such single member districts shall follow city and

 

township boundaries where applicable and shall be composed of

 

compact and contiguous territory as nearly square in shape as

 

possible.

 

     Any representative area consisting of more than one county,

 

entitled to more than one representative, shall be divided into

 

single member districts as equal as possible in population,

 

adhering to county lines.

 

     Resolved further, That the foregoing amendment shall be

 

submitted to the people of the state at the next general election

 

in the manner provided by law.