Regular Session 2015-2016 Senate Bill 0484 P.N. 1359

PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE

PRINTER'S NO. 1359

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

484

Session of

2015

INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, LEACH, TEPLITZ, EICHELBERGER, WILLIAMS,

FONTANA, YUDICHAK, BLAKE AND BROWNE, OCTOBER 26, 2015

REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, OCTOBER 26, 2015

A JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania, further providing for the Legislative

Reapportionment Commission for the purpose of reapportioning

and redistricting the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby resolves as follows:

Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of

Pennsylvania is proposed in accordance with Article XI:

That section 17 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 17. Legislative [Reapportionment] and Congressional

Redistricting Commission.

(a) [In each year following the year of the Federal

decennial census] Not later than December 31 of each year ending

in zero, a Legislative [Reapportionment] and Congressional

Redistricting Commission shall be constituted for the purpose of

reapportioning the Commonwealth. The commission shall [act by a

majority of its entire membership.]:

(1) Conduct an open and transparent process enabling full

public consideration of and comment on the drawing of district

lines.

(2) Draw district lines according to the redistricting

criteria specified in this article.

(3) Conduct itself with integrity and fairness.

[(b) The commission shall consist of five members: four of

whom shall be the majority and minority leaders of both the

Senate and the House of Representatives, or deputies appointed

by each of them, and a chairman selected as hereinafter

provided. No later than 60 days following the official reporting

of the Federal census as required by Federal law, the four

members shall be certified by the President pro tempore of the

Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the

elections officer of the Commonwealth who under law shall have

supervision over elections.

The four members within 45 days after their certification

shall select the fifth member, who shall serve as chairman of

the commission, and shall immediately certify his name to such

elections officer. The chairman shall be a citizen of the

Commonwealth other than a local, State or Federal official

holding an office to which compensation is attached.

If the four members fail to select the fifth member within

the time prescribed, a majority of the entire membership of the

Supreme Court within 30 days thereafter shall appoint the

chairman as aforesaid and certify his appointment to such

elections officer.

Any vacancy in the commission shall be filled within 15 days

in the same manner in which such position was originally filled.

been duly certified or the population data for the Commonwealth

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as determined by the Federal census are available, whichever is

later in time, the commission shall file a preliminary

reapportionment plan with such elections officer.

The commission shall have 30 days after filing the

preliminary plan to make corrections in the plan.

Any person aggrieved by the preliminary plan shall have the

same 30-day period to file exceptions with the commission in

which case the commission shall have 30 days after the date the

exceptions were filed to prepare and file with such elections

officer a revised reapportionment plan. If no exceptions are

filed within 30 days, or if filed and acted upon, the

commission's plan shall be final and have the force of law.

(d) Any aggrieved person may file an appeal from the final

plan directly to the Supreme Court within 30 days after the

filing thereof. If the appellant establishes that the final plan

is contrary to law, the Supreme Court shall issue an order

remanding the plan to the commission and directing the

commission to reapportion the Commonwealth in a manner not

inconsistent with such order.

(e) When the Supreme Court has finally decided an appeal or

when the last day for filing an appeal has passed with no appeal

taken, the reapportionment plan shall have the force of law and

the districts therein provided shall be used thereafter in

elections to the General Assembly until the next reapportionment

as required under this section 17.

(f) Any district which does not include the residence from

which a member of the Senate was elected whether or not

scheduled for election at the next general election shall elect

a Senator at such election.

(g) The General Assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds

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for the compensation and expenses of members and staff appointed

by the commission, and other necessary expenses. The members of

the commission shall be entitled to such compensation for their

services as the General Assembly from time to time shall

determine, but no part thereof shall be paid until a preliminary

plan is filed. If a preliminary plan is filed but the commission

fails to file a revised or final plan within the time

prescribed, the commission members shall forfeit all right to

compensation not paid.

(h) If a preliminary, revised or final reapportionment plan

is not filed by the commission within the time prescribed by

this section, unless the time be extended by the Supreme Court

for cause shown, the Supreme Court shall immediately proceed on

its own motion to reapportion the Commonwealth.

(i) Any reapportionment plan filed by the commission, or

ordered or prepared by the Supreme Court upon the failure of the

commission to act, shall be published by the elections officer

once in at least one newspaper of general circulation in each

senatorial and representative district. The publication shall

contain a map of the Commonwealth showing the complete

reapportionment of the General Assembly by districts, and a map

showing the reapportionment districts in the area normally

served by the newspaper in which the publication is made. The

publication shall also state the population of the senatorial

and representative districts having the smallest and largest

population and the percentage variation of such districts from

the average population for senatorial and representative

districts.]

(b) The commission shall consist of 11 members, as follows:

four who are registered with the largest political party in this

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Commonwealth based on registration, four who are registered with

the second-largest political party in this Commonwealth based on

registration and three who are not registered with either of the

two largest political parties in this Commonwealth based on

registration.

following qualifications:

(1) Be a voter who has been continuously registered in this

Commonwealth with the same political party or unaffiliated with

a political party or political body and whose political

affiliation has not changed in the previous three years

immediately preceding the date of appointment to the commission.

(2) Has voted in two of the last three Statewide general

elections immediately preceding the date of appointment to the

commission.

(3) Has not held, nor has a spouse who has held, elective

public office at the Federal, State or political subdivision

level in this Commonwealth in the previous five years

immediately preceding the date of appointment to the commission.

(4) Has not served as a paid staff member or paid consultant

to Congress, the General Assembly, the Commonwealth or any

political subdivision in this Commonwealth in the previous five

years immediately preceding the date of appointment to the

commission.

(5) Has not registered as a Federal, State or local lobbyist

in this Commonwealth in the previous five years immediately

preceding the date of appointment to the commission.

(6) Has not held office or served as a paid staff member for

a political party or political body in the previous five years

immediately preceding the date of appointment to the commission.

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(7) Has not been nominated as a candidate for elective

office by a political party or political body or served as a

paid staff member or officer of a political party, political

body, political committee or political action committee in the

previous five years immediately preceding the date of

appointment to the commission.

(d) Application and selection of the members of the

commission shall be subject to the following:

(1) Application to serve as a member of the commission may

be filed with, and on a form developed by, the Secretary of the

Commonwealth indicating thereon evidence of his or her

qualifications as provided by this section.

(2) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall verify the

qualifications of each applicant. If the Secretary of the

Commonwealth finds that an applicant is not qualified, the

Secretary of the Commonwealth shall not include the applicant's

name in the pool of applicants.

(3) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall separate all

qualified applicants into three groups consisting of those who

are:

(i) registered with the largest political party in this

Commonwealth based on registration;

(ii) registered with the second-largest political party in

this Commonwealth based on registration; and

(iii) not registered with either of the two largest

political parties in this Commonwealth based on registration.

(4) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall select, for

appointment as members of the commission, on a random basis from

each of the three groups of qualified applicants. In addition to

the qualification requirements provided in subsection (c),

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appointments from each group shall reasonably reflect the

racial, geographic and gender diversity of this Commonwealth.

(5) One of the members shall be selected as chair by a vote

of at least six members of the commission.

(e) The term of office of each member of the commission

shall expire at the same time the commission expires as provided

in this section.

(f) Removal of a member and vacancies on the commission

shall be subject to the following:

(1) If a member of the commission fails to attend more than

two consecutive meetings at which a vote of the commission is

scheduled, the member's position shall be deemed vacant unless

the member is absent due to death of an immediate family member,

personal illness or illness of an immediate family member.

(2) Any vacancy in the commission shall be filled within 14

days from the time the commission is notified of the vacancy in

the same manner in which the position was originally filled and

using the same pool of applicants from which the vacating member

was chosen. If none of those remaining applicants are available

for service, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall fill the

vacancy from a new pool of applicants created for the same voter

registration category as the vacating member.

(g) A member shall be ineligible for a period of three years

beginning from the expiration of the term for which the member

was appointed to the commission to:

(1) Hold an appointive Federal, State or political

subdivision position in this Commonwealth.

(2) Serve as a paid staff member or paid consultant to

Congress, the General Assembly, the Commonwealth or any

political subdivision.

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(3) Register as a Federal, State or local lobbyist in this

Commonwealth.

(4) Hold office or serve as a paid staff member or paid

political consultant for a political party, political body,

political committee or political action committee.

(g.1) A member shall be ineligible for a period of five

years beginning from the expiration of the term for which the

member was appointed to the commission to:

(1) Hold elective public office at the Federal, State or

political subdivision level in this Commonwealth.

(2) Be eligible for nomination as a candidate for elective

office by a political party or political body.

(h) Seven members of the commission shall constitute a

quorum. Seven or more affirmative votes shall be required for

any official action. The final redistricting plan must be

approved by at least seven affirmative votes, which must include

at least one vote of a member registered from each of the two

largest political parties in this Commonwealth based on

registration and one vote from a member who is not registered

with either of the two largest political parties.

(i) To begin the process of preparing information necessary

to the redistricting process, the commission shall complete all

of the following:

(1) The commission shall acquire all necessary and

appropriate information, review and evaluate available

facilities and develop programs and procedures, which may

include the use of software, in preparation for drawing

congressional and legislative redistricting plans on the basis

of each Federal census. The commission shall make the

information available to the public through the commission's

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publicly accessible Internet website.

(2) As soon as possible after December 31 of each year

ending in zero, the commission shall obtain from the United

States Census Bureau the population data needed for legislative

districting that the Census Bureau is required to provide the

Commonwealth under 13 U.S.C. § 141 (relating to population and

other census information) and shall use that data to assign a

population figure based upon census data to each geographic and

political unit described pursuant to subparagraph (i). Upon

completing that task, the commission shall begin the preparation

of congressional and legislative redistricting plans as required

by this subsection and subsection (j). The commission shall use

the data obtained to prepare:

(i) Necessary descriptions of census blocks, voting

districts, wards, municipalities and counties for which census

data will be reported and which are suitable for use as

components of districts.

(ii) Maps of census blocks, voting districts, wards,

municipalities and counties within this Commonwealth, which may

be used to illustrate the locations of district boundaries

proposed in plans drawn in accordance with subsection (j).

(j) The commission shall establish congressional and

legislative districts pursuant to a mapping process using the

following criteria as set forth in the following order of

priority:

(1) Districts shall comply with the Constitution of the

United States and shall be established on the basis of

population as follows:

(i) Senatorial and representative districts, respectively,

shall each have a population as nearly equal as practicable to

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the ideal population for such districts, determined by dividing

the number of districts to be established into the population of

this Commonwealth reported in the Federal census. Senatorial

districts and representative districts shall not vary in

population from the respective ideal district populations except

as necessary to comply with one 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 3.5% of the applicable ideal district population. No

senatorial district shall have a population which exceeds that

of any other senatorial district by more than 5%, and no

representative district shall have a population which exceeds

that of any other representative district by more than 5%.

(ii) Congressional districts shall each have a population as

close to the applicable ideal district population as possible.

(2) To the extent consistent with paragraph (1), district

boundaries shall coincide with the boundaries of political

subdivisions of this Commonwealth. The number of counties and

municipalities divided among more than one 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 criterion does not

apply to a legislative district boundary drawn along a county

line which passes through a municipality that lies in more than

one county.

(3) Districts shall be composed of contiguous territory.

Areas which meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not

contiguous.

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(4) Districts should represent communities of interest.

(5) The geographic integrity of a municipality or local

community of interest shall be respected in a manner that

minimizes its division to the extent possible without violating

the requirements of any of the preceding subsections.

(6) It is preferable that districts be compact in form,

except that the standards established in paragraphs (1), (2) and

(3) shall take precedence over compactness where a conflict

arises between compactness and these standards. Compactness

shall be determined through the use of one of the standard

compactness measures that compares the area, population or

geography of the districts to one another.

(7) No district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring a

political party, incumbent legislator or member of Congress or

other person or group. In establishing districts, the following

data shall not be considered:

(i) Addresses of incumbent legislators or members of

Congress.

(ii) Political affiliations of registered voters.

(iii) Previous election results.

(8) Each plan drawn under this section shall provide that

any vacancy in the General Assembly which is filled under the

plan, occurring at a time which makes it necessary to fill the

vacancy at a special election held under section 629 of the act

of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania

Election Code, shall be filled from the same district which

elected the senator or representative whose seat is vacant.

(k) The commission, within 30 days prior to the deadline for

approval of a preliminary plan as set forth in subsection (l)

(1), shall schedule and conduct at least four public hearings in

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different geographic regions of this Commonwealth.

(l) (1) Not later than July 1 of each year ending in one,

the commission shall complete and approve a preliminary

redistricting plan and maps as required under this section and

make such preliminary plan and maps available to the public

through the commission's publicly accessible Internet website.

(2) The commission, within 30 days following the deadline

for approval of a preliminary plan as set forth in paragraph

(1), shall schedule and conduct at least four public hearings,

in different geographic regions of this Commonwealth, on the

preliminary plan.

(3) Not later than August 15 of each year ending in one, the

commission shall approve a final redistricting plan. Upon

approval, the commission shall certify the resulting plan to the

Secretary of the Commonwealth, which plan shall constitute the

certified final plan.

(4) If the commission fails to approve a final plan in

accordance with paragraph (3), the following shall apply:

(i) Not later than September 1 of each year ending in one,

the commission shall complete and approve a second preliminary

redistricting plan and maps prepared in accordance with

subsection (j) and make such second preliminary plan and maps

available to the public through the commission's publicly

accessible Internet website.

(ii) Within 30 days following the deadline for approval of

the second preliminary plan as set forth in subparagraph (i),

the commission shall schedule and conduct at least four public

hearings, in different geographic regions of this Commonwealth,

on the second preliminary plan.

(iii) Not later than October 15 of each year ending in one,

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the commission shall approve a final redistricting plan. Upon

approval, the commission shall certify the resulting plan to the

Secretary of the Commonwealth, which plan shall constitute the

certified final plan.

(m) If the commission does not complete and approve a final

redistricting plan by October 16 of each year ending in one, the

Secretary of the Commonwealth shall immediately petition the

Supreme Court for an order directing the appointment of a

special master to develop and complete a final redistricting

plan in accordance with the criteria and requirements set forth

in subsection (j). The special master must demonstrate expertise

in geographic information systems by holding a graduate degree

in geographic information systems and currently serving as a

faculty member for a geographic information systems program at

an institution of higher learning located within this

Commonwealth and must meet the qualifications in subsection (c)

and be bound by the restrictions in subsection (g). Upon its

approval of the master's plan, the court shall certify the

resulting plan to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which plan

shall constitute the certified final plan.

(n) The commission has the sole legal standing to defend any

action regarding a certified final plan and shall inform the

General Assembly if it determines that funds or other resources

provided for the operation of the commission are not adequate.

(o) (1) The Supreme Court has original and exclusive

jurisdiction in all proceedings in which a certified final plan

is challenged or is claimed not to have taken timely effect.

(2) Any aggrieved person who is a registered voter in this

Commonwealth may file a petition with the Supreme Court within

30 days after the commission has certified a final plan to the

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Secretary of the Commonwealth to bar the Secretary of the

Commonwealth from implementing the plan on the grounds that the

filed plan violates the Constitution of the United States, this

Constitution or any Federal or State statute.

(p) The Department of State shall provide staff as needed to

support the commission in the performance of its duties.

(q) Upon the filing of all redistricting plans required

under this section and the exhaustion of all appeals of a

redistricting plan:

(1) the commission shall expire and the commission's

responsibilities shall terminate; and

(2) the final plan shall have the force of law and the

districts therein provided shall be used thereafter in elections

to the General Assembly until the next redistricting as required

under this section.

(r) The General Assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds

for the compensation and expenses of members and staff appointed

by the commission and for other necessary expenses. In addition

to necessary expenses, the members of the commission shall

receive a per diem for each day or part of a day spent

performing their official duties. The per diem shall be the most

recent per diem rate for locations in this Commonwealth as

established and published by the United States General Services

Administration.

(s) Any district which does not include the residence from

which a member of the Senate was elected whether or not

scheduled for election at the next general election shall elect

a Senator at the election.

(t) The following words and phrases when used in this

section shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection

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unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Commission." The Legislative and Congressional

Redistricting Commission.

"Community of interest." A contiguous population which

shares common social and economic interests that should be

included within a single district for purposes of its effective

and fair representation. It shall not include relationships with

political parties, incumbents or political candidates.

"Federal census." The decennial census required by Federal

law to be conducted by the United States Census Bureau in every

year ending in zero.

"Immediate family." A parent, spouse, child, brother or

sister.

"Member." A member of the Legislative and Congressional

Redistricting Commission.

"Plan." A plan for legislative and congressional

redistricting drawn under the requirements of this section.

Section 2. (a) Upon the first passage by the General

Assembly of this proposed constitutional amendment, the

Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to

comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article

XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the

required advertisements to two newspapers in every county in

which such newspapers are published in sufficient time after

passage of this proposed constitutional amendment.

(b) Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of this

proposed constitutional amendment, the Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to comply with the

advertising requirements of section 1 of Article XI of the

Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the required

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advertisements to two newspapers in every county in which such

newspapers are published in sufficient time after passage of

this proposed constitutional amendment. The Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall submit this proposed constitutional amendment

to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth at the first

primary, general or municipal election which meets the

requirements of and is in conformance with section 1 of Article

XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and which occurs at least

three months after the proposed constitutional amendment is

passed by the General Assembly.

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