Bill Text: MS HB133 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State of Mississippi Congressional and Legislative Redistricting Act; create.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-23 - Died In Committee [HB133 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2016-HB133-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Baria
House Bill 133
AN ACT TO CREATE THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING ACT; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS; TO REQUIRE CERTAIN PREPARATIONS FOR REDISTRICTING; TO PROVIDE FOR A CERTAIN TIMETABLE FOR PREPARATION OF REDISTRICTING PLAN; TO REQUIRE CERTAIN REDISTRICTING STANDARDS; TO CREATE THE TEMPORARY REDISTRICTING ADVISORY COMMISSION; TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN DUTIES OF THE TEMPORARY REDISTRICTING ADVISORY COMMISSION; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 5-3-91 THROUGH 5-3-129, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "State of Mississippi Congressional and Legislative Redistricting Act."
SECTION 2. As used in this act, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Chief election officer" means the Secretary of State of the State of Mississippi as provided by Section 23-15-211.1.
(b) "Commission" means the Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission established in accordance with this act.
(c) "Federal census" means the decennial census required by federal law to be conducted by the United States Bureau of the Census in every year ending in zero.
(d) "Four selecting authorities" means:
(i) The Lieutenant Governor.
(ii) The Senate minority leader.
(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(iv) The House of Representatives minority leader.
(e) "Legislative Services Office" means both the House Legislative Services Office and the Senate Legislative Services Office working jointly.
(f) "Partisan public office" means:
(i) An elective or appointive office in the executive or legislative branch or in an independent establishment of the federal government.
(ii) An elective office in the executive or legislative branch of the government of this state or an office which is filled by appointment and is excluded from the state service under Section 25-9-107.
(iii) An office of a county, city or other political subdivision of this state which is filled by an election process involving nomination and election of candidates on a partisan basis.
(g) "Plan" means a plan for legislative and congressional reapportionment drawn up in accordance with the requirements of this act.
(h) "Political party office" means an elective office in the national or state organization of a political party as defined by Section 23-15-801(h).
(i) "Relative" means an individual who is related to the person in question as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother or half sister.
SECTION 3. (1) The Legislative Services Office shall acquire appropriate information, review and evaluate available facilities, and develop programs and procedures in preparation for drawing congressional and legislative redistricting plans on the basis of each federal census. Funds shall be expended for the purchase or lease of equipment and materials only with prior approval of the Legislature.
(2) By December 31 of each year ending in zero, the Legislative Services Office shall obtain from the United States Bureau of the Census information regarding geographic and political units in this state for which federal census population data has been gathered and will be tabulated. The Legislative Services Office shall use the data so obtained to:
(a) Prepare necessary descriptions of geographic and political units for which census data will be reported, and which are suitable for use as components of legislative districts.
(b) Prepare maps of counties, cities and other geographic units within the state, which may be used to illustrate the locations of legislative district boundaries proposed in plans drawn in accordance with Section 5 of this act.
(3) As soon as possible after January 1 of each year ending in one, the Legislative Services Office shall obtain from the United States Bureau of the Census the population data needed for legislative redistricting which the census bureau is required to provide this state under United States Public Law No. 94-171, and shall use that data to assign a population figure based upon certified federal census data to each geographic or political unit described pursuant to subsection (2)(a). Upon completing that task, the Legislative Services Office shall begin the preparation of congressional and legislative redistricting plans as required by Section 4 of this act.
(4) Upon each delivery of a bill by the Legislative Services Office to the Legislature embodying a plan, pursuant to Section 4 of this act, the Legislative Services Office shall at the earliest feasible time make available to the public the following information:
(a) Copies of the bill delivered by the Legislative Services Office to the Legislature.
(b) Maps illustrating the plan.
(c) A summary of the standards prescribed by Section 5 of this act for development of the plan.
(d) A statement of the population of each district included in the plan, and the relative deviation of each district population from the ideal district population.
SECTION 4. (1) Not later than December 31 of each year ending in one, the Legislative Services Office shall deliver to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives identical bills embodying a plan of legislative and congressional redistricting prepared in accordance with Section 5 of this act. It is the intent of this chapter that the Legislature shall bring the bill to a vote in either the Senate or the House of Representatives expeditiously, but not less than three (3) days after the report of the commission required by Section 7 of this act is received and made available to the members of the Legislature. It is further the intent of this chapter that if the bill is approved by the first house in which it is considered, it shall expeditiously be brought to a vote in the second house. The bill shall be subject to amendment in the same manner as other bills. All amendments made to the bills shall comply with the redistricting standards set forth in Section 5 of this act and the Constitution. The committees to which the plans are referred shall report their recommendations to their respective houses no later than the forty-fifth day of the legislative session.
(2) If the bill embodying the plan submitted by the Legislative Services Office under subsection (1) of this section fails to be enacted during the regular legislative session of a year ending in two, Article 254 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 shall control.
Any apportionment plan adopted during a special apportionment session or by the five-member commission in accordance with Article 254 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 shall comply with the provisions of Section 5 of this act.
SECTION 5. (1) Legislative and congressional districts shall be established on the basis of population.
(a) Senatorial and representative districts, respectively, shall each have a population as nearly equal as practicable to the ideal population for such districts, determined by dividing the number of districts to be established into the population of the state reported in the federal decennial census. Senatorial districts and representative districts shall not vary in population from the respective ideal district populations except as necessary to comply with one (1) of the other standards enumerated in this section. In no case shall the quotient, obtained by dividing the total of the absolute values of the deviations of all district populations from the applicable ideal district population by the number of districts established, exceed one percent (1%) of the applicable ideal district population. No senatorial district shall have a population which exceeds that of any other senatorial district by more than five percent (5%), and no representative district shall have a population which exceeds that of any other representative district by more than five percent (5%).
(b) Congressional districts shall each have a population as nearly equal as practicable to the ideal district population, derived as prescribed in paragraph (a) of this subsection. No congressional district shall have a population which varies by more than one percent (1%) from the applicable ideal district population, except when a congressional district is composed of two (2) or more counties it shall not be entirely separated by a county belonging to another district and no county shall be divided in forming a congressional district.
(c) If a challenge is filed with the Supreme Court alleging excessive population variance among districts established in a plan adopted by the Legislature, the Legislature has the burden of justifying any variance in excess of one percent (1%) between the population of a district and the applicable ideal district population.
(2) To the extent consistent with subsection (1) of this subsection, district boundaries shall coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions of the state. The number of counties and cities divided among more than one (1) district shall be as small as possible. When there is a choice between dividing local political subdivisions, the more populous subdivisions shall be divided before the less populous, but this statement does not apply to a legislative district boundary drawn along a county line which passes through a city that lies in more than one (1) county.
(3) Districts shall be composed of convenient contiguous territory. Areas which meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous.
(4) Districts shall be reasonably compact in form, to the extent consistent with the standards established by subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section. In general, reasonably compact districts are those which are square, rectangular, or hexagonal in shape, and not irregularly shaped, to the extent permitted by natural or political boundaries. If it is necessary to compare the relative compactness of two (2) or more districts, or of two (2) or more alternative districting plans, the tests prescribed by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection shall be used.
(a) Length-width compactness. The compactness of a district is greatest when the length of the district and the width of the district are equal. The measure of a district's compactness is the absolute value of the difference between the length and the width of the district. In general, the length-width compactness of a district is calculated by measuring the distance from the northernmost point or portion of the boundary of a district to the southernmost point or portion of the boundary of the same district and the distance from the westernmost point or portion of the boundary of the district to the easternmost point or portion of the boundary of the same district. The absolute values computed for individual districts under this paragraph may be cumulated for all districts in a plan in order to compare the overall compactness of two (2) or more alternative districting plans for the state, or for a portion of the state.
(b) Perimeter compactness. The compactness of a district is greatest when the distance needed to traverse the perimeter boundary of a district is as short as possible. The total perimeter distance computed for individual districts under this paragraph may be cumulated for all districts in a plan in order to compare the overall compactness of two (2) or more alternative districting plans for the state, or for a portion of the state.
(5) No district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring a political party, incumbent legislator or member of Congress, or other person or group, or for the purpose of augmenting or diluting the voting strength of a language or racial minority group. In establishing districts, no use shall be made of any of the following data:
(a) Addresses of incumbent legislators or members of Congress.
(b) Political affiliations of registered voters.
(c) Previous election results.
(d) Demographic information, other than population head counts, except as required by the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
(6) In order to minimize electoral confusion and to facilitate communication within state legislative districts, each plan drawn under this section shall provide that each representative district is wholly included within a single senatorial district and that, so far as possible, each representative and each senatorial district shall be included within a single congressional district. However, the standards established by subsections (1) through (5) shall take precedence where a conflict arises between these standards and the requirement, so far as possible, of including a senatorial or representative district within a single congressional district.
(7) Each bill embodying a plan drawn under this section shall provide that any vacancy in the Legislature which takes office in the year ending in one, occurring at a time which makes it necessary to fill the vacancy at a special election held in accordance with Section 23-15-851, shall be filled from the same district which elected the senator or representative whose seat is vacant.
SECTION 6. (1) Not later than February 15 of each year ending in one, a five-member Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission shall be established as provided by this section. The commission's only functions shall be those prescribed by Section 7 of this act.
(a) Each of the four (4) selecting authorities shall certify to the chief election officer the authority's appointment of a person to serve on the commission. The certifications may be made at any time after the majority and minority leaders have been selected for the Legislature which takes office in the year ending in one, even though that Legislature�s term of office has not actually begun.
(b) Within thirty (30) days after the four (4) selecting authorities have certified their respective appointments to the commission, but in no event later than February 15 of the year ending in one, the four (4) commission members so appointed shall select, by a vote of at least three (3) members, and certify to the chief election officer the fifth commission member, who shall serve as chairperson.
(c) A vacancy on the commission shall be filled by the initial selecting authority within fifteen (15) days after the vacancy occurs.
(d) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, provided that they shall be entitled to per diem compensation as is authorized by Section 25-3-69 for each day occupied with the discharge of official duties as members of the committee plus the expense allowance equal to the maximum daily expense rate allowable to employees of the federal government for travel in the high rate geographical area of Jackson, Mississippi, as may be established by federal regulations, per day, including mileage as authorized by Section 25-3-41. All expenses incurred by and on behalf of the committee shall be paid from a sum to be provided in equal portion from the contingency funds of the Senate and House of Representatives.
(2) No person shall be appointed to the commission who:
(a) Is not an eligible elector of the state at the time of selection.
(b) Holds partisan public office or political party office.
(c) Is a relative of or is employed by a member of the Legislature or of the United States Congress, or is employed directly by the Legislature or by the United States Congress.
SECTION 7. The functions of the commission shall be as follows:
(1) If, in preparation of plans as required by this chapter, the Legislative Services Office is confronted with the necessity to make any decision for which no clearly applicable guideline is provided by Section 5 of this act, the Legislative Services Office may submit a written request for direction to the commission.
(2) Prior to delivering any plan and the bill embodying that plan to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives in accordance with Section 4 of this act, the Legislative Services Office shall provide to persons outside the legislative services staff only such information regarding the plan as may be required by policies agreed upon by the commission. This subsection does not apply to population data furnished to the Legislative Services Office by the United States Bureau of the Census.
(3) Upon the delivery by the Legislative Services Office to the Legislature of a bill embodying an initial plan, as required by Section 4 of this act, the commission shall:
(a) As expeditiously as reasonably possible, schedule and conduct at least three (3) public hearings, in different geographic regions of the state, on the plan embodied in the bill delivered by the Legislative Services Office to the Legislature.
(b) Following the hearings, promptly prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House a report summarizing information and testimony received by the commission in the course of the hearings. The commission's report shall include any comments and conclusions which its members deem appropriate on the information and testimony received at the hearings, or otherwise presented to the commission. The report shall be submitted no later than fourteen (14) days after the date the bill embodying an initial plan of congressional and legislative redistricting is delivered to the Legislature.
SECTION 8. Sections 5-3-91, 5-3-93, 5-3-95, 5-3-97, 5-3-99, 5-3-101 and 5-3-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide for the Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment, are repealed.
SECTION 9. Sections 5-3-121, 5-3-123, 5-3-125, 5-3-127 and 5-3-129, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide for the Standing Joint Congressional Redistricting Committee, are repealed.
SECTION 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.
