SPONSOR: Trent
Upon voter approval, this proposed Constitutional amendment modifies laws pertaining to the influence of special interest groups on the state legislature. In its main provisions, the resolution:
(1) Repeals an existing exception to the lobbyist gift ban for members of the General Assembly that allows small gifts of under $5.00 so that no gifts from lobbyists or lobbyist principals to members of the General Assembly will be allowed and sets campaign finance limits for state Senators or their candidate committees at $2000 per General Assembly election;
(2) Repeals provisions relating to the use of a nonpartisan state demographer to draw redistricting maps using mathematical formulas based on partisan fairness and competitiveness;
(3) Creates separate House and Senate independent bipartisan citizens commissions to draw redistricting maps beginning 60 days after the annual census report;
(4) Establishes redistricting criteria;
(5) Specifies a procedure for gubernatorial appointment of six member House and Senate bipartisan redistricting committees;
(6) Requires the bipartisan committees to meet within 15 days, excluding Sundays and state holidays, of appointment to select officers, adopt an agenda, and file a tentative plan of apportionment and map with the Secretary of State within five months after appointment. Public hearings will be held after filing and a final map will be filed within six months of appointment which must be approved by seven-tenths of the commission members;
(7) Specifies that a panel of appellate judges will create a redistricting map if a bipartisan commission fails to agree by the requisite seven-tenths vote. Deadlines and requirements for the map are further specified in the resolution; and
(8) Requires the bipartisan commissions to establish a "Redistricting Public Comment Portal", to accept comments, maps, or other communications from the general public or interested parties. Submissions to the portal must disclose whether the entity making the submission was responsible for its content and whether or not the submission was funded by contributors. If a submission was funded, then the identity of the contributors shall be disclosed.
This bill is the same as HJR 48 (2019).