BILL NUMBER: S3384
SPONSOR: GRIFFO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments to
section 4 and section 5-a of article 3 of the constitution, in relation
to the number of senators and the apportionment of senate districts
 
PURPOSE:
To change the method of apportioning state Senators.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends sections 4 and 5-a of article 3 of the Constitution to
award each county of the state a single Senator to represent it in the
state Legislature.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Because New York City and its immediate surroundings contain such a
disproportionate amount of our state's population, the unintended conse-
quence of the "One Man-One Vote" 1964 Supreme Court decision of Lucas v.
Colorado General Assembly has been to effectively disempower virtually
any state resident outside of the immediate vicinity of New York City.
While the motivation behind the Lucas decision was in many ways lauda-
ble, the decision itself ran counter to the example set by our own
federal constitution as it established our national legislative bodies.
As the representatives of New York City quite naturally focus on the
needs of their own constituents, many issues critical to the prosperity
of upstate New York have been routinely ignored over the past few years.
A more equitable distribution of legislative representatives might well
lead to a better and less parochial government for all New Yorkers.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24-S.1512 - Judiciary Committee
2021-22 - S. 3776/A. 4751 - Judiciary Committee.
2019-20 - S. 2047/A. 6461 - Judiciary Committee.
2018 - S. 8478 - Judiciary Committee.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment be
referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and in
conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
published for 3 months previous to the time of such election.