Bill Text: NH SB8 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishing an independent redistricting commission.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-11-08 - Minority Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate [SB8 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2019-SB8-Introduced.html
SB 8 - AS INTRODUCED
2019 SESSION
19-0972
11/05
SENATE BILL 8
AN ACT establishing an independent redistricting commission.
SPONSORS: Sen. Chandley, Dist 11; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Sen. Hennessey, Dist 5; Sen. Dietsch, Dist 9; Sen. Levesque, Dist 12; Sen. Cavanaugh, Dist 16; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Rep. Belanger, Hills. 27; Rep. Porter, Hills. 1; Rep. Wolf, Merr. 5; Rep. W. Pearson, Ches. 16
COMMITTEE: Election Law and Municipal Affairs
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ANALYSIS
This bill establishes an independent redistricting commission.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19-0972
11/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen
AN ACT establishing an independent redistricting commission.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Short Title. This act shall be known as the Fair Maps Act of 2019.
2 New Chapter; Independent Redistricting Commission. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 662-A the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 662-B
INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION
662-B:1 Independent Redistricting Commission.
I. There is hereby established an independent redistricting commission which shall be charged with establishing all election district boundaries for all state and federal elections in New Hampshire. This commission is established so that henceforth elections shall reflect to the greatest extent possible the wishes of the voters of New Hampshire by eliminating partisan distortions of electoral districts.
II. The commission shall consist of 7 members of the public. Active legislators, close family of elected officials, staffers, party officials, and paid lobbyists shall not serve on the commission. The president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the minority leaders of the house of representatives and senate shall each appoint one member and shall notify the secretary of state of such appointment no later than 60 days of the effective date of this section.
III. Within 60 days of the appointment of the initial 4 members, the secretary of state shall designate a time and place to hold a meeting in order to select 3 additional members. A public application process shall be required for the remaining 3 members. The secretary of state shall administer the application process, which may include essays, letters of recommendation, and interviews. The secretary of state shall put forward for selection by the commission an equal number of applicants from each recognized party as well as voters who have been undeclared for at least 5 years in New Hampshire. No additional member shall be selected to the commission without the affirmative vote of at least 3 of the 4 initial members. Should the 4 members fail to nominate additional members with the requisite 3 votes, the unfilled positions shall be picked at random from the applicants approved by the secretary of state. Once the initial 4 members have been selected by the legislative leaders, no additional member shall be selected if such selection results in more than 2 members of the commission having their voting domicile in any one county.
IV. The terms of all commissioners shall be 10 years. A member may be re-appointed upon the expiration of his or her term. The members shall elect annually a chairperson from among the members. In the event of substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office, a member of the commission may be removed by a 2/3 vote of the commission. The commission may look at previous applicants or re-open the application process in order to fill a vacancy.
V. No redistricting commission member shall make a contribution, as defined in RSA 664:2, to any candidate for office or political committee for the time they serve on the commission.
VI. Each commissioner shall be paid $200 a day, or $100 per half-day, plus mileage at the state employee rate while engaged in her or his official duties. These rates shall be adjusted annually to account for inflation or deflation based on the consumer price index. The chairperson or his or her designee shall receive his or her reasonable expenses while traveling out of state in the performance of her or his duties.
VII. The commission shall be considered a public body subject to RSA 91:A. No documents created or received by the commissioners or staff as part of official duties, including drafts plans, emails, and text messages, shall be exempt from disclosure for any privilege other than attorney-client privilege.
662-B:2 Commission Duties.
I. The commission shall establish districts for state representatives, state senators, executive councilors, and United States senators and representatives using the following criteria:
(a) Districts shall comply with the United States Constitution and all applicable federal laws. Districts shall be drawn on the basis of total population.
(b) Districts shall form single boundaries and shall not be bisected or otherwise divided by other districts.
(c) Districts shall respect the integrity of communities of interest to the extent practicable. A community of interest is defined as an area with recognized similarities of interests, including but not limited to, economic, social, cultural, geographic, or historic identities. Communities of interest shall not include common relationships with political parties or political candidates.
(d) Districts shall respect the geographic integrity of political boundaries to the extent practicable without violating the requirements of any of the preceding subparagraphs.
(e) Districts shall provide racial minorities and language minorities with an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and shall not diminish their ability to elect candidates of choice whether alone or in coalition with others.
(f) The redistricting plan as a whole shall not have the intent or the effect of unduly favoring or disfavoring any political party or incumbent or candidate for political office.
II. The commission shall solicit redistricting plans and suggestions from the people of New Hampshire. The commission shall be authorized to purchase redistricting software that shall be made available to the public and legislators within 10 business days of the commission receiving it.
III. The commission shall create a commission website that shall provide, at a minimum, a description of the role of the commission in the redistricting process, timely information to the public about the time, place, and purpose of each commission meeting, a portal for the submission of proposed maps, all preliminary maps, all data used to create maps, all reports analyzing the maps, and all other disclosures.
IV. The commission shall provide a meaningful opportunity for all persons to participate in the public meetings, including, but not limited to, issuing notices in no fewer than 3 languages most prevalent in New Hampshire as determined by the census and ensuring that translation services are available at all hearings at the commission’s expense or through partnership with outside organizations. The commission shall hold at least one meeting in each county.
V. Commission meetings shall be adequately advertised and planned so as to encourage attendance and participation across the state. This includes scheduling meetings outside of regular work hours and using technology that allows for real-time, virtual participation and feedback.
VI. The commission may hire up to 3 staff in the 2 years preceding the census and redistricting process for a term not to exceed 3 years and may, if it so chooses, share staff with either the attorney general's office or the office of the secretary of state. Staffing salaries shall be in accordance with salary levels set by the joint committee on legislative facilities. If a plan is deemed unconstitutional or for any reason must be re-drawn the committee may hire up to 3 staff for the time it requires to draw new maps.
VII. Commissioners and staff shall not communicate with any outside persons attempting to influence commissioners or commission action outside of public meetings. To the extent that commissioners and staff receive such communications, the identity of the person or group and the subject of the communication shall be publicly disclosed on the commission website.
662-B:3 Adopting a Proposed Plan.
I. The commission shall forward an approved plan to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate before January 1 of each year ending in 2. To approve the new plan, the plan shall receive 5 “yes” votes from the commission, including 3 “yes” votes from members appointed by the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the minority leaders of the house of representatives and senate, and 2 “yes” votes from the other members. The plan shall go into effect once adopted by the legislature.
II. The legislature shall hold a public hearing held to solicit public feedback and a roll-call vote on the commission’s approved plan before producing any other plan.
III. The legislature shall not enact a redistricting plan other than the one approved by the commission or modify the approved redistricting plan unless the plan or modification has been made available to the public by the legislature, including by making it available on the legislature’s website or other equivalent electronic platform for a period of no less than 10 calendar days and in a manner and format that allows the public to assess the plan for adherence to the redistricting standards and requirements contained in this chapter and to submit comments on the plan to the legislature.
IV. Should no plan be enacted into law by February 15 in the year of an election, the plan proposed by the commission shall be used in creating districts with full force and effect as if that plan had been enacted into law, unless such commission plan is found to violate either the federal or state constitution. Should the commission plan be found to be in violation of the state or federal constitution, the court shall adopt its own plan conforming to the commission plan to the extent constitutionally permissible. If the census data necessary for the redistricting plan is unavailable by February 15 of the year ending in one, the dates set forth in this section shall be extended by a number of days equal to the number of days after February 15 of the year ending in one that the census data becomes available.
V. Should a redistricting plan other than that proposed by the commission be found by the New Hampshire supreme court or United States District Court to be in violation of either the state or the federal constitutions, the New Hampshire supreme court shall adopt the plan of the commission, unless it also is found to be in violation of either state or federal constitutions, in which case the New Hampshire supreme court shall adopt its own plan that conforms with the commission's to the greatest extent possible.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
