February 22, 2008

Corona Chamber Supports Redistricting Reform Concept

The Corona Chamber of Commerce supports the California Voters FIRST Act concept which seeks to reform the way state legislators are elected.

Every 10 years, after the census, new boundary lines for the United States Congress and California Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts are drawn. Currently, the California State Legislature draws those lines. This is viewed as a major conflict of interest.
 

Click here to visit the California Voters FIRST Web site.

"Redistricting reform is one of the top legislative priorities of the Corona Chamber," stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona Chamber's Legislative Action Committee. "The California Voters FIRST Act is the right solution at the right time," continued Schneider.

The California Voters FIRST Act aims to eliminate the conflict of interest. A 14-person citizens redistricting commission would be created. The California Voters FIRST Act would create a politically balanced Commission - five democrats, five  republicans, and four others. Commissioners would be chosen for their impartiality, skills, and to reflect our State’s demographic and geographic diversity.

The Act would protect communities, cities, and counties. The California Voters FIRST Act would create a list of prioritized mapping criteria for the Commission to follow. This would ensure that our Constitution, federal and state laws are followed. California’s communities, cities, and counties must be respected.

The process would be open and public. The Commission would hold hearings to receive public input. The California Voters FIRST Act would end the closed-door political deals by legislators to draw districts that protect themselves.

The Act will be placed on the November 2008 ballot pending count of signatures by the Office of the Secretary of State.

Proposal Details

California Voters FIRST Act is pending count of signatures by the Office of the Secretary of State.

The Commission would be formed by inviting California registered voters to participate. A pool of 60 (20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, 20 others) is selected based on their skills, ability to be impartial, and diversity by a review panel of state auditors (1 Democrat, 1 Republican, 1 other).

The 4 Legislative Leaders can strike up to 24 people from the pool. Out of the remaining pool, 8 Commissioners are randomly picked - 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans, 2 others.

The final 6 Commissioners (2 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 2 others) are chosen by the 8 Commissioners from the remaining pool based on the balance of skills and diversity they would bring.

The mapping criteria for the Commission to follow include, which are ranked in order, are:

- Districts shall comply with the US Constitution, including equal population requirements.
- Districts shall comply with the Voting Rights Act.
- Districts shall be geographically contiguous.
- The geographic integrity of any city, county, or city and county, neighborhoods, or communities of interest shall be respected. Communities of interest shall not be defined as having a relationship with incumbents, candidates, or parties.
- To the extent possible, after the above criteria have been satisfied, districts shall be compact.
- To the extent possible, after the above criteria have been satisfied, districts shall be nested.

Incumbent residences may not be considered; districts may not be drawn to favor politicians or parties.

The scope of the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission includes the district drawing of the California Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization seats in the next redistricting cycle in 2011 and after each decennial census.

The State Legislature will draw Congressional seats, following the same mapping criteria and hearing requirements as the Commission.

According to California Common Cause (also supporter of the Act):

- 66% support creating an independent redistricting commission to draw district lines instead of incumbent legislators.
- 86% want an open process and an end to back room deals in redistricting.
- 78 - 81% want a redistricting process that keeps their neighborhoods and cities together and divided as little as possible.

Click here to visit the California Voters FIRST Web site.

March 13, 2007

Corona Chamber Supports Election Reform

The Corona Chamber of Commerce supports efforts to make California elections more competitive by reforming the highly politicized process of drawing legislative and congressional districts.

“This will help to ensure that the business community can remain involved in the election process and support pro-business candidates,” stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced his plan earlier this year. The plan details include the following:

- Create a Citizens Redistricting Commission composed of 11 independent members, four from each of the state's two major political parties, with the three others being decline-to-state voters or voters with other political affiliations.

- Any redistricting plan must have at least one vote from each of the two major political parties and one from an independent or minor party.

- The commission would be selected by random drawing by the Fair Political Practices Commission from a pool of 55 candidates, nominated by a panel of 10 current or retired county registrars of voters or city election clerks.

- Anyone who has served as an elected official within the past five years, lobbyists or those with family ties to elected officials are not eligible to serve on the panel.

- If the constitutional amendment to create the redistricting commission is approved by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature, it would go before voters.

The Corona Chamber will work with the Governor’s office and the state legislature to ensure that the Corona business community is engaged in policy discussions in the coming months regarding redistricting reform proposals.

December 16, 2006

Redistricting is on the Political Map for 2007

To make California elections more competitive, Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled a plan to reform the highly politicized process of drawing legislative and congressional districts. Schwarzenegger's proposal was released just over a year after voters soundly rejected his previous redistricting effort as part of a slate of government-reform measures in his 2005 special election.

The Corona Chamber supports the Governor’s plan and will work to ensure its successful passage in the Legislature.

Democrats have been less than enthusiastic about redrawing the areas in which they represent. They expressed some skepticism about the Republican Governor’s revised plan, but pledged to work with the Governor to come to reasonable conclusions.

Currently, state lawmakers are responsible for drawing the district lines, as well as those for the state's congressional delegation, leading critics to say politicians are choosing their voters, rather than the other way around. The current district lines drawn in 2001 are widely perceived as having been drafted to protect incumbents. In the past three statewide elections, only four congressional and legislative seats changed parties out of 459 races.

The Governor’s proposal calls for creating an 11-member Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) (four from each of the state's two major political parties, with the three others being decline-to-state voters or voters with other political affiliations) to oversee drawing district lines. The pool of potential commissioners would be nominated by various county and city elections officials. Any redistricting plan must have at least one vote from each of the two major political parties and one from an independent or minor party.

The commission would be selected by random drawing by the Fair Political Practices Commission from a pool of 55 candidates, nominated by a panel of 10 current or retired county registrars of voters or city election clerks.

Anyone who has served as an elected official within the past five years, lobbyists or those with family ties to elected officials will not be eligible to serve on the CRC.