SACRAMENTO –Assemblymember Curren Price (D-Inglewood), Chair of the Assembly Elections Committee, reports that after working with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assembly Democratic leaders have announced an agreement on principles on a plan to reshape the way the state draws its legislative districts.

“The current system is indefensible,” said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. “Legislators should not cherry-pick their votes. Nine times now, California voters have said ‘no’ to repeated attempts to change the way legislative and congressional districts are designed.  Voters, then and now, aren’t interested in a partisan power grab.”

“Redistricting is a complex task that needs to take into consideration the Voting Rights Act, communities of interest, and both political boundaries of cities and counties,” said Assemblymember Price. “We are committed to making this happen this year.”

The details of the proposal include:

• Creating a bipartisan commission of 11 members, including commissioners who are Democrats, Republicans and not registered with either of those parties.

• The commission will represent a broad cross-section of Californians committed to adopting fair redistricting plans.

• Representative of California's diversity, including, but not limited to, racial, ethnic, geographic and gender diversity.

• Commissioners registered with the same political party for 3 years before their appointments.

• Commissioners may not have held or run for office for the three preceding years or have been employed as lobbyists or by a campaign committee, political party or the Legislature during that time.

• Commissioners may not have a financial or immediate family relationship with the Governor, any member of the Legislature, Congress or the Board of Equalization.

• Commissioners would have to pledge not to run for office for three years after their terms on the commission end.

• Redistricting limited to once a decade unless a court orders otherwise.

• Required to comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act and the California Public Records Act.

• The commission will be provided with sufficient resources, including staff and legal counsel, to be hired by the commission itself to ensure its independence.

• Fair, legal plans required to include: Compliance with the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act, including per-district populations that meet constitutional equality standards.

• Districts will also be geographically contiguous, respect communities of interest, city, county and geographic boundaries to the extent practicable and be compact to the extent practicable. Incumbents' and candidates' residence locations may not be considered except as needed to comply with these standards.

• Public hearing will be required at all stages of the process – before maps are drawn, once tentative maps are drawn by the commission, and again on the proposed final commission maps.

“Fairness and diversity are the cornerstones of our proposal,” Assemblymember Price added. “We’re in the process of working out the details, but the result will be a diverse, independent commission to develop fair, legal plans that will comply with the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.” 

Legislative language incorporating the proposals has been submitted to Legislative Counsel. No bill number has yet been assigned.

Assemblymember Curren Price was inaugurated on December 4th and serves the 51st Assembly District, which includes Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Playa Vista, Westchester, Lawndale, West Athens, Lennox, Alondra Park, West Compton, Del Aire, and Willowbrook, as well as portions of the unincorporated area of Ladera.