Bill Text: NY A01867 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes an apportionment commission to create apportionment plans for congressional and state legislative districts based on decennial federal census, which shall be considered by and voted upon by the state legislature; eliminates the legislative task force on demographic research and reapportionment.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to governmental operations [A01867 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A01867-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1867 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 11, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to apportionment of congressional, senate and assembly districts; and to repeal section 83-m of such law relating to the legislative task force on demographic research and reapportionment The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 5-a of the legislative law, as 2 added by chapter 630 of the laws of 1998, the opening paragraph as 3 amended by section 1 of part GGG of chapter 59 of the laws of 2018, is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 3. Any member of the assembly serving in a special capacity in a posi- 6 tion set forth in the following schedule shall be paid the allowance set 7 forth in such schedule only for the legislative term commencing January 8 first, two thousand nineteen and terminating December thirty-first, two 9 thousand twenty: 10 ASSEMBLYMEN SERVING IN SPECIAL CAPACITY 11 Chairman of legislative commission on public management 12 systems ........................................................ 12,500 13 Chairman of legislative commission on science and 14 technology ..................................................... 12,500 15 Co-chairman of the legislative commission on water 16 resource needs of New York state and Long Island ......... no allowance 17 [Co-chairman of the legislative task force on18demographic research and reapportionment ...................... 15,000] 19 Chairman of the assembly task force on farm, 20 food and nutrition ............................................. 12,500 21 Ranking minority member of the assembly task force EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01481-01-1A. 1867 2 1 on farm, food and nutrition ..................................... 9,000 2 Chairman of the legislative commission on skills 3 development and career education ............................... 12,500 4 Vice-Chairman of the legislative commission on the 5 development of rural resources ................................. 12,500 6 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 12 of the legislative law, as added by 7 chapter 141 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows: 8 5. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, services and 9 expenses of the legislative health service, legislative library, legis- 10 lative messenger service, legislative ethics committee, [joint oper-11ations of the legislative task force on demographic research and reap-12portionment] apportionment commission, and contributions to the national 13 conference of state legislatures shall be payable after audit by and on 14 the warrant of the comptroller upon vouchers certified by the temporary 15 president of the senate or his or her designee and the speaker of the 16 assembly or his or her designee. 17 § 3. Section 83-m of the legislative law is REPEALED. 18 § 4. The legislative law is amended by adding a new article 6-B to 19 read as follows: 20 ARTICLE 6-B 21 APPORTIONMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL 22 AND STATE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS 23 Section 95. Legislative intent. 24 96. Apportionment nominations committee. 25 97. Powers and duties of committee. 26 98. Apportionment commission. 27 99. Powers and duties of commission. 28 99-A. Apportionment. 29 99-B. Application of article. 30 § 95. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and declares 31 that: 32 1. there is a need for intensive and thorough study, research and 33 inquiry into the techniques and methodology to be used by the bureau of 34 the census of the United States commerce department in carrying out the 35 decennial federal census; 36 2. a technical plan will be needed to meet the requirements of a 37 legislative timetable for a reapportionment of the senate and assembly 38 districts and the congressional districts of the state based on such 39 census; and 40 3. the apportionment commission is necessary to assist the legislature 41 in the performance of its responsibilities and in the conduct of legis- 42 lative research projects relating thereto. 43 § 96. Apportionment nominations committee. 1. On or before the first 44 of December of each year ending with a nine or as soon as possible after 45 the effective date of this article, there shall be established an appor- 46 tionment nominations committee to select those persons who shall be 47 eligible to be appointed as members of the apportionment commission 48 created in section ninety-eight of this article. Each such committee 49 shall remain in existence until its duties pursuant to section ninety- 50 seven of this article have been completed. 51 2. The apportionment nominations committee shall be composed of eight 52 members, appointed as follows: 53 (a) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the 54 senate; 55 (b) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;A. 1867 3 1 (c) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 2 senate; and 3 (d) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 4 assembly. 5 3. The apportionment nominations committee shall designate two 6 co-chairs from among its members by a simple majority vote of all 7 members. 8 4. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall be 9 registered voters in this state. No member of such committee shall: 10 (a) hold or have held within the previous two years an elected govern- 11 mental office; 12 (b) hold or have held within the previous two years any other 13 appointed governmental or political party position; 14 (c) be employed or have been employed within the previous two years in 15 any other position by the United States Congress, the state legislature, 16 the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court 17 system; 18 (d) be or have been within the previous two years a registered lobby- 19 ist in this state pursuant to article one-A of this chapter; 20 (e) be the spouse of any member of the United States Congress, the 21 state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or 22 the federal court system; or 23 (f) be related within the third degree of consanguinity to any member 24 of the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive 25 chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system, or to the 26 spouse of any such person. 27 5. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall 28 receive no compensation for their services, but shall be allowed their 29 actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their 30 duties. 31 6. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall be 32 appointed and serve for the duration of such committee. All vacancies in 33 the membership of such committee shall be filled in the manner provided 34 for original appointments. 35 § 97. Powers and duties of committee. 1. The apportionment nominations 36 committee shall have the power and duty to, on or before the first of 37 March in each year ending with a zero or as soon as possible after the 38 effective date of this article, establish a list of forty persons who 39 shall be eligible to be appointed as members of the apportionment 40 commission. Such list shall hereinafter be referred to in this article 41 as the "nominations pool". 42 2. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall by 43 majority vote select each person to be included in the nominations pool. 44 Upon completion of such pool, such committee shall submit a copy of the 45 nominations pool to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker 46 of the assembly, the minority leader of the senate and the minority 47 leader of the assembly. 48 3. The nominations pool shall include: 49 (a) fifteen persons who are enrolled as Democrats; 50 (b) fifteen persons who are enrolled as Republicans; and 51 (c) ten persons who are not enrolled as either Democrats or Republi- 52 cans. 53 4. Persons selected to the nominations pool shall be registered voters 54 in this state. No such person shall: 55 (a) hold or have held within the previous two years an elected govern- 56 mental office;A. 1867 4 1 (b) hold or have held within the previous two years any other 2 appointed governmental or political party position; 3 (c) be a member of the apportionment nominations committee created in 4 section ninety-six of this article; 5 (d) be employed or have been employed within the previous two years in 6 any other position by the United States Congress, the state legislature, 7 the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court 8 system; 9 (e) be or have been within the previous two years a registered lobby- 10 ist in this state pursuant to article one-A of this chapter; 11 (f) be the spouse of any member of the United States Congress, the 12 state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or 13 the federal court system; or 14 (g) be related within the third degree of consanguinity to any member 15 of the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive 16 chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system, or to the 17 spouse of any such person. 18 5. (a) The nominations pool shall include at least three persons from 19 each of the following regions of the state, with the remainder to be 20 nominated from such regions in proportion to the distribution of the 21 state's population in each region: 22 (i) Long Island; 23 (ii) New York city; 24 (iii) Hudson Valley; 25 (iv) Northern; 26 (v) Central; 27 (vi) Southern tier; and 28 (vii) Western. 29 (b) For the purposes of this subdivision, the following regions shall 30 be composed of the following counties; 31 (i) Long Island: the counties of Nassau and Suffolk; 32 (ii) New York city: the counties of Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and 33 Richmond; 34 (iii) Hudson Valley: the counties of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, 35 Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Albany and Sche- 36 nectady; 37 (iv) Northern: the counties of Saratoga, Washington, Warren, Essex, 38 Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Hamilton, Fulton, Herkimer, Lewis and 39 Jefferson; 40 (v) Central: the counties of Schoharie, Montgomery, Otsego, Chenango, 41 Madison, Oneida, Oswego, Cortland, Onondaga and Cayuga; 42 (vi) Southern tier: the counties of Sullivan, Delaware, Broome, Tioga, 43 Tompkins, Schuyler, Steuben, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua; and 44 (vii) Western: the counties of Seneca, Yates, Ontario, Wayne, Monroe, 45 Livingston, Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans, Niagara and Erie. 46 6. To the extent practicable, the apportionment nominations committee 47 shall ensure that the nominations pool reflects the diversity of the 48 residents of the state with regard to race, ethnicity and gender. 49 § 98. Apportionment commission. 1. There shall be created an appor- 50 tionment commission to assist the legislature in the reapportionment of 51 congressional, senate and assembly districts based on the ensuing feder- 52 al census, pursuant to section two of article one of the United States 53 Constitution and sections four and five of article three of the state 54 constitution. 55 2. The apportionment commission shall be composed of eleven members, 56 appointed from the nominations pool as follows:A. 1867 5 1 (a) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the 2 senate; 3 (b) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; 4 (c) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 5 senate; 6 (d) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 7 assembly; and 8 (e) three members shall be appointed, on or before the thirtieth day 9 after a vacancy in any such position occurs, by the eight members 10 appointed pursuant to paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subdivision by 11 a vote of not less than six members in favor of each such appointment, 12 and each vacancy in any position filled pursuant to this paragraph shall 13 be deemed to create vacancies in all three positions held by the members 14 so appointed; provided that any such member may be reappointed pursuant 15 to this paragraph. In the event that three members are not appointed on 16 or before the thirtieth day after a vacancy in any such position occurs 17 if: 18 (i) two persons are appointed with the required six votes and no other 19 person receives six votes, the third such member shall be appointed by 20 the chief judge of the court of appeals within thirty days thereafter; 21 (ii) one person is appointed with the required six votes and no two 22 other persons receive six votes, the two persons receiving the most 23 votes shall be appointed as members; and 24 (iii) no three persons receive six votes, the two persons receiving 25 the most votes shall be appointed as members and the third member shall 26 be appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals. 27 (f) The chair shall be designated, from among the three members 28 appointed pursuant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision, by a simple 29 majority vote of all members of the commission; provided that if the 30 commission fails to designate a chair, the chair shall be designated by 31 the chief judge of the court of appeals. 32 3. (a) No more than four members of the apportionment commission shall 33 be enrolled in the same political party. 34 (b) To the extent practicable, the members of the apportionment 35 commission shall reflect the diversity of the residents of this state 36 with regard to race, ethnicity, gender and geographic residence. 37 4. The terms of the members of the apportionment commission shall 38 expire upon the filing of all apportionment plans, pursuant to subdivi- 39 sion four, five and/or six of section ninety-nine-A of this article, the 40 exhaustion of any judicial review of an apportionment plan and appor- 41 tionment statute, and the implementation of an apportionment statute. 42 Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled in the 43 manner provided for original appointments. 44 5. The members of the apportionment commission and all employees ther- 45 eof shall be deemed to be legislative employees. 46 6. The members of the apportionment commission shall receive no 47 compensation for their services, but shall be allowed their actual and 48 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant 49 to this article. 50 7. A minimum of eight members of the apportionment commission shall 51 constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business or the exercise 52 of any power of such commission, provided that no exercise of any power 53 of the apportionment commission shall occur without the affirmative vote 54 of seven members thereof. 55 § 99. Powers and duties of commission. The apportionment commission 56 shall have the power and duty to:A. 1867 6 1 1. Employ and at pleasure remove such personnel as it may deem neces- 2 sary for the performance of its functions and fix their compensation 3 within the amounts made available therefor; 4 2. Meet within and without the state, hold public hearings and have 5 all the powers of a legislative committee pursuant to this chapter; 6 3. Request, receive and utilize such facilities, resources and data 7 (including, but not limited to, historical voting information and 8 patterns) of any department, division, board, bureau, commission or 9 agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof as it may 10 reasonably request to properly carry out its powers and duties pursuant 11 to this article; 12 4. Acquire and utilize all materials and equipment necessary to estab- 13 lish apportionment plans pursuant to section ninety-nine-A of this arti- 14 cle; 15 5. Prepare the necessary descriptions for the geographic units of the 16 state for use by the federal Census Bureau in reporting decennial feder- 17 al census data; 18 6. Engage in such research studies and other activities as necessary 19 or appropriate in the preparation and formulation of a reapportionment 20 plan for the next ensuing reapportionment of senate and assembly 21 districts and congressional districts of the state and in the utiliza- 22 tion of census and other demographic and statistical data for policy 23 analysis, program development and program evaluation purposes for the 24 legislature; 25 7. Sell surveys, data, copies of tabulations and other special statis- 26 tical compilations and materials to departments, agencies and other 27 entities of federal, state or local government, of foreign countries, 28 and to public benefit corporations, or other public, not-for-profit and 29 private persons and agencies, upon payment of fees at least sufficient 30 to pay the actual or estimated cost of such projects. In furtherance of 31 such sale, the apportionment commission may execute contracts for such 32 purpose; 33 8. Prepare maps of cities, towns and counties of the state for 34 describing congressional, senate and assembly districts, and prepare 35 apportionment plans and legislation; and 36 9. Make available to the public in print form and in electronic form 37 on the internet, using the best available technology, all apportionment 38 plans, relevant data and mapmaking software used to prepare such plans, 39 information on the members of the apportionment commission and all other 40 relevant information derived from the operation of this article. 41 § 99-A. Apportionment. 1. The apportionment commission shall, upon 42 receipt of the federal decennial census for the state, begin to estab- 43 lish a plan for the apportionment of congressional, senate and assembly 44 districts in the state. 45 2. The following requirements and principles shall be applied in 46 establishing a plan for such districts: 47 (a) all congressional districts shall be as nearly equal in population 48 as is practicable. 49 (b) each district shall consist of contiguous territory; no district 50 shall consist of parts entirely separated by the territory of another 51 district of the same body, whether such territory be land or water, 52 populated or unpopulated. A populated census block shall not be divided 53 by a district boundary, unless it can be determined that the populated 54 part of such block is within a single district. 55 (c) senate, assembly, or congressional districts shall not be estab- 56 lished that are intended to or result in a denial or abridgement ofA. 1867 7 1 minority voting rights including the opportunity of minority voters to 2 participate in the political process, and to elect the candidates of 3 their choice. 4 (d) senate, assembly, or congressional districts shall not be drawn 5 with an intent to favor or oppose any political party, any incumbent 6 federal or state legislator, or any previous or presumed candidate for 7 office. 8 (e) subject to the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of 9 this subdivision, the following principles shall be followed in the 10 creation of senate, assembly, and congressional districts to the extent 11 practicable. A principle with a lower number shall have precedence over 12 a principle with a higher number. 13 (i) The most and least populous senate districts shall not exceed or 14 be lower than the mean population of all senate districts by more than 15 one percent, and the most and least populous assembly districts shall 16 not exceed or be lower than the mean population of all assembly 17 districts by more than one percent. In no event shall the commission 18 advantage any region of the state over any other by creating multiple 19 districts therein exceeding, or lower than, the mean population by more 20 than one percent. 21 (ii) Counties shall not be divided in the formation of districts, 22 except to create districts wholly within a county. Where such division 23 of counties is unavoidable, more populous counties shall be divided in 24 preference to the division of less populous counties. 25 (iii) County subdivisions shall not be divided in the formation of 26 districts, except to create districts wholly within a county subdivi- 27 sion. For the purposes of this article, a county subdivision shall be a 28 city, except the city of New York, a town, or an Indian reservation 29 whose territory is exclusive of the territory of any city or town. Coun- 30 ty subdivisions with larger populations shall be divided in preference 31 to the division of those with smaller populations. 32 (iv) Incorporated villages shall not be divided in the formation of 33 districts. 34 (v) The senate, assembly, and congressional districts shall be as 35 compact in form as possible. 36 (vi) A senate, assembly, or congressional district shall unite commu- 37 nities defined by actual shared interests, taking account of geographic, 38 social, economic, and other factors that indicate commonality of inter- 39 est, and districts shall be formed so as to promote the orderly and 40 efficient administration of elections. 41 3. During the preparation of the apportionment plan, the apportionment 42 commission shall conduct not less than one public hearing on proposals 43 for the apportionment of congressional and state legislative districts 44 in each of the following (a) cities: Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, Roches- 45 ter, Glen Cove, and White Plains; and (b) counties: Bronx, Kings, New 46 York, Queens and Richmond. Public notice of all such hearings shall be 47 widely published by the apportionment commission in advance through all 48 available means. To the extent practicable, all such hearings and the 49 proceedings of the apportionment commission shall be televised. The 50 apportionment commission shall report the findings of all such hearings 51 to the legislature upon submission of the apportionment plan pursuant to 52 paragraph (a) of subdivision four of this section. 53 4. (a) On or before the fifteenth of May in each year ending with a 54 one or within sixty days of receiving the federal decennial census for 55 the state, whichever is later, the apportionment commission shall submit 56 to the legislature and disseminate to the public an apportionment planA. 1867 8 1 for all congressional and state legislative districts, along with the 2 legislation necessary to implement such plan. Upon receipt of such plan, 3 the implementing legislation therefor shall be introduced in both houses 4 of the legislature without any amendments within five days. 5 (b) On or before the first of June following the dissemination of the 6 apportionment plan to the public, the apportionment commission shall 7 conduct not less than one public hearing on such apportionment plan in 8 each of the cities and counties delineated in paragraphs (a) and (b) of 9 subdivision three of this section, and shall report the findings of all 10 such hearings to the legislature. 11 (c) The legislation introduced pursuant to paragraph (a) of this 12 subdivision shall be voted upon, without amendment, by both such houses 13 of the legislature within seven days after the apportionment commission 14 reports the findings of its public hearing to the legislature. If 15 approved, the legislature shall forward such legislation to the governor 16 within five days. 17 5. If (a) either house shall fail to approve the legislation submitted 18 pursuant to subdivision four of this section within twenty-one days of 19 its submission, or (b) the governor shall veto such legislation and the 20 legislature shall fail to override such veto within fifteen days of such 21 veto, the apportionment commission shall hold an open hearing within 22 fifteen days of said failure to pass the legislation as in paragraph (a) 23 of this subdivision or failure to override the governor's veto as in 24 paragraph (b) of this subdivision at which the speaker and minority 25 leader of the assembly and the temporary president and minority leader 26 of the senate, or each of their designees shall testify as to the 27 reasons that the legislation did not become law, and members of the 28 public will also be invited to testify. Within fifteen days of such 29 hearing, the apportionment commission shall establish and submit to the 30 legislature a second apportionment plan and the necessary implementing 31 legislation for such plan. Upon receipt of such second plan, the imple- 32 menting legislation therefor shall be introduced in both houses of the 33 legislature without any amendments within five days. Such legislation 34 shall be voted upon, without amendment, by both such houses within twen- 35 ty-one days, but not sooner than seven days, after its introduction. If 36 approved, the legislature shall forward such legislation to the governor 37 within five days. 38 6. If (a) either house shall fail to approve the legislation submitted 39 pursuant to subdivision five of this section within twenty-one days of 40 its submission, or (b) the governor shall veto such legislation and the 41 legislature fails to override such veto the apportionment commission 42 shall hold an open hearing within fifteen days of said failure to pass 43 the legislation as in paragraph (a) of this subdivision or failure to 44 override the governor's veto as in paragraph (b) of this subdivision at 45 which the speaker and minority leader of the assembly and the temporary 46 president and minority leader of the senate, or each of their designees 47 shall testify as to the reasons that the legislation did not become law, 48 and members of the public will also be invited to testify. Within 49 fifteen days of such hearing, the apportionment commission shall estab- 50 lish and submit to the legislature a third apportionment plan and the 51 necessary implementing legislation for such plan. Upon receipt of such 52 third plan, the implementing legislation with any amendments the legis- 53 lature shall deem necessary shall be introduced in both houses of the 54 legislature within five days. All such amendments shall comply with the 55 provisions of subdivision two of this section. Such legislation shall be 56 voted upon by both such houses within twenty-one days, but not soonerA. 1867 9 1 than seven days, after its introduction. If approved, the legislature 2 shall forward such legislation to the governor within five days. 3 § 99-B. Application of article. 1. The process for apportionment of 4 congressional and state legislative districts established by this arti- 5 cle shall be the exclusive means by which such apportionment shall be 6 completed in this state. Every apportionment of congressional or state 7 legislative districts performed in violation of the provisions of this 8 article shall be void. In any proceeding relating to apportionment of 9 congressional or state legislative districts, the court shall implement 10 the plan that best serves the requirements of subdivision two of section 11 ninety-nine-A of this article. 12 2. An apportionment statute shall remain in full force and effect 13 until a subsequent apportionment statute, based upon the succeeding 14 decennial federal census, takes effect, unless modified pursuant to 15 court order. 16 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
