John Tanner Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 124 To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redis- tricting after a decennial census and apportionment, to require States to conduct such redistricting through independent commissions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. SWALWELL of Cali- fornia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congres- sional redistricting after a decennial census and appor- tionment, to require States to conduct such redistricting through independent commissions, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 3 AUTHORITY. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5 ‘‘John Tanner Fairness and Independence in Redistricting 6 Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 124 IH (b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author- 1 ity to establish the terms and conditions States must fol- 2 low in carrying out Congressional redistricting after an 3 apportionment of Members of the House of Representa- 4 tives because— 5 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar- 6 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 7 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov- 8 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 9 Members of the House of Representatives; and 10 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 11 section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con- 12 stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 13 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 14 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 15 States according to their number. 16 SEC. 2. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING AFTER 17 AN APPORTIONMENT. 18 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ri- 19 cardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional re- 20 districting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), 21 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A State 22 which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 23 after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act en- 24 titled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 124 IH decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 1 of Representatives in Congress’, approved June 18, 1929 2 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after 3 the next apportionment of Representatives under such sec- 4 tion, unless a court requires the State to conduct such 5 subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 6 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 7 10301 et seq.).’’. 8 SEC. 3. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 9 THROUGH PLAN OF INDEPENDENT STATE 10 COMMISSION OR PLAN OF HIGHEST STATE 11 COURT. 12 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 14 provision of law, any Congressional redistricting con- 15 ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 16 with— 17 (A) the redistricting plan developed by the 18 independent redistricting commission estab- 19 lished in the State, in accordance with section 20 4; or 21 (B) if the plan developed by such commis- 22 sion is not enacted into law, the redistricting 23 plan selected by the highest court in the State 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 124 IH or developed by a United States district court, 1 in accordance with section 5. 2 (2) OTHER CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES PER- 3 MITTED.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments 4 made by this Act may be construed to prohibit a 5 State from conducting Congressional redistricting in 6 accordance with such criteria and procedures as the 7 State considers appropriate, to the extent that such 8 criteria and procedures are consistent with the appli- 9 cable requirements of this Act and the amendments 10 made by this Act. 11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 12 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 13 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap- 14 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 15 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 16 ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert- 17 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the John Tanner Fair- 18 ness and Independence in Redistricting Act’’. 19 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 20 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 21 (1) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—Each State 22 shall establish an independent redistricting commis- 23 sion composed of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 124 IH (A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma- 1 jority vote of the other members of the commis- 2 sion; and 3 (B) an equal number of members (but not 4 fewer than one) from each of the following cat- 5 egories: 6 (i) Members appointed by a member 7 of the upper house of the State legislature 8 who represents the political party with the 9 greatest number of seats in that house. 10 (ii) Members appointed by a member 11 of the upper house of the State legislature 12 who represents the political party with the 13 second greatest number of seats in that 14 house. 15 (iii) Members appointed by a member 16 of the lower house of the State legislature 17 who represents the political party with the 18 greatest number of seats in that house. 19 (iv) Members appointed by a member 20 of the lower house of the State legislature 21 who represents the political party with the 22 second greatest number of seats in that 23 house. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 124 IH (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM- 1 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 2 unicameral legislature, the independent redistricting 3 commission established under this subsection shall 4 be composed of— 5 (A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma- 6 jority vote of the other members of the commis- 7 sion; and 8 (B) an equal number of members (but not 9 fewer than two) from each of the following cat- 10 egories: 11 (i) Members appointed by a member 12 of the legislature who shall be selected by 13 the chair of the Government Affairs Com- 14 mittee of the legislature to represent the 15 State political party whose candidate for 16 chief executive of the State received the 17 greatest number of votes on average in the 18 3 most recent general elections for that of- 19 fice. 20 (ii) Members appointed by a member 21 of the legislature who shall be selected by 22 the chair of the Government Affairs Com- 23 mittee of the legislature to represent the 24 State political party whose candidate for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 124 IH chief executive of the State received the 1 second greatest number of votes on aver- 2 age in the 3 most recent general elections 3 for that office. 4 (3) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual is eligible to 5 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 6 commission if— 7 (A) as of the date of appointment, the in- 8 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 9 Federal office held in the State, and was reg- 10 istered to vote in the 2 most recent general 11 elections for Federal office held in the State; 12 (B) the individual did not hold public office 13 or run as a candidate for election for public of- 14 fice, or serve as an employee of a political party 15 or candidate for election for public office, at 16 any time during the 4-year period ending on the 17 December 31 preceding the date of appoint- 18 ment; and 19 (C) the individual certifies that he or she 20 will not run as a candidate for the office of 21 Representative in the Congress until after the 22 next apportionment of Representatives under 23 section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 24 provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 124 IH nial censuses and to provide for an apportion- 1 ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 2 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a). 3 (4) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission 4 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 5 appointment was made. 6 (5) DEADLINE.—Each State shall establish a 7 commission under this section, and the members of 8 the commission shall appoint the commission’s chair, 9 not later than the first February 1 which occurs 10 after the chief executive of a State receives the State 11 apportionment notice. 12 (6) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR REQUIRED PRIOR 13 TO DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.—The 14 commission may not take any action to develop a re- 15 districting plan for the State under subsection (b) 16 until the appointment of the commission’s chair in 17 accordance with paragraph (1)(E). 18 (7) REQUIRING ALL MEETINGS TO BE OPEN TO 19 PUBLIC.—The commission shall hold each of its 20 meetings in public. 21 (8) INTERNET SITE.—As soon as practicable 22 after establishing the commission, the State shall es- 23 tablish and maintain a public internet site for the 24 commission which meets the following requirements: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 124 IH (A) The site is updated continuously to 1 provide advance notice of commission meetings 2 and to otherwise provide timely information on 3 the activities of the commission. 4 (B) The site contains the most recent 5 available information from the Bureau of the 6 Census on voting-age population, voter registra- 7 tion, and voting in the State, including pre- 8 cinct-level and census tract-level data with re- 9 spect to such information, as well as detailed 10 maps reflecting such information. 11 (C) The site includes interactive software 12 to enable any individual to design a redis- 13 tricting plan for the State on the basis of the 14 information described in subparagraph (B), in 15 accordance with the criteria described in sub- 16 section (b)(1). 17 (D) The site permits any individual to sub- 18 mit a proposed redistricting plan to the com- 19 mission, and to submit questions, comments, 20 and other information with respect to the com- 21 mission’s activities. 22 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 23 (1) CRITERIA.—The independent redistricting 24 commission of a State shall develop a redistricting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 124 IH plan for the State in accordance with the following 1 criteria: 2 (A) Adherence to the ‘‘one person, one 3 vote’’ standard and other requirements imposed 4 under the Constitution of the United States. 5 (B) To the greatest extent mathematically 6 possible, ensuring that the population of each 7 Congressional district in the State does not 8 vary from the population of any other Congres- 9 sional district in the State (as determined on 10 the basis of the total count of persons of the 11 most recent decennial census conducted by the 12 Bureau of the Census). 13 (C) Consistency with any applicable re- 14 quirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 15 and other Federal laws. 16 (D) To the greatest extent practicable, the 17 maintenance of the geographic continuity of the 18 political subdivisions of the State which are in- 19 cluded in the same Congressional district, in the 20 following order of priority: 21 (i) The continuity of counties or par- 22 ishes. 23 (ii) The continuity of municipalities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 124 IH (iii) The continuity of neighborhoods 1 (as determined on the basis of census 2 tracts or other relevant information). 3 (E) To the greatest extent practicable, 4 maintaining compact districts (in accordance 5 with such standards as the commission may es- 6 tablish). 7 (F) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 8 (except to the extent necessary to include any 9 area which is surrounded by a body of water). 10 (2) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER- 11 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 12 State, the independent redistricting commission may 13 not take into consideration any of the following fac- 14 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 15 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 16 (A) The voting history of the population of 17 a Congressional district, except that the com- 18 mission may take such history into consider- 19 ation to the extent necessary to comply with 20 any State law which requires the establishment 21 of competitive Congressional districts. 22 (B) The political party affiliation of the 23 population of a district. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H124.IH H124 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 124 IH (C) The residence of incumbent Members 1 of the House of Representatives in the State. 2 (3) SOLICITATION OF PUBLIC INPUT IN DEVEL- 3 OPMENT OF PLANS.—The commission shall solicit 4 and take into consideration comments from the pub- 5 lic in developing the redistricting plan for the State 6 by holding meetings in representative geographic re- 7 gions of the State at which members of the public 8 may provide such input, and by otherwise soliciting 9 input from the public (including redistricting plans 10 developed by members of the public) through the 11 commission internet site and other methods. 12 (4) PUBLIC NOTICE OF PLANS PRIOR TO SUB- 13 MISSION TO LEGISLATURE.—Not fewer than 7 days 14 prior to submitting a redistricting plan to the legis- 15 lature of the State under subsection (c)(1), the com- 16 mission shall post on the commission internet site 17 and cause to have published in newspapers of gen- 18 eral circulation throughout the State a notice con- 19 taining the following [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]