I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2646 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 APRIL 17, 2023 Mr. COHEN 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 and Jim Cooper Fairness and Independ- 6 ence in Redistricting Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2646 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 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2646 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 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2646 IH or developed by a United States district court, 1 in accordance with section 5. 2 (2) TREATMENT OF COMMISSIONS ESTAB- 3 LISHED PURSUANT TO LAWS ENACTED PRIOR TO EN- 4 ACTMENT.—If Congressional redistricting in a State 5 is conducted in accordance with a redistricting plan 6 developed by a commission which was established in 7 the State pursuant to a law enacted prior to the 8 date of the enactment of this Act, the redistricting 9 shall be deemed to meet the requirement of subpara- 10 graph (A) of paragraph (1). 11 (3) OTHER CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES PER- 12 MITTED.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments 13 made by this Act may be construed to prohibit a 14 State from conducting Congressional redistricting in 15 accordance with such criteria and procedures as the 16 State considers appropriate, to the extent that such 17 criteria and procedures are consistent with the appli- 18 cable requirements of this Act and the amendments 19 made by this Act. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 21 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 22 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap- 23 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 24 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2646 IH ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert- 1 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the John Tanner and Jim 2 Cooper Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act’’. 3 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 4 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 5 (1) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—Each State 6 shall establish an independent redistricting commis- 7 sion composed of— 8 (A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma- 9 jority vote of the other members of the commis- 10 sion; and 11 (B) an equal number of members (but not 12 fewer than one) from each of the following cat- 13 egories: 14 (i) Members appointed by a member 15 of the upper house of the State legislature 16 who represents the political party with the 17 greatest number of seats in that house. 18 (ii) Members appointed by a member 19 of the upper house of the State legislature 20 who represents the political party with the 21 second greatest number of seats in that 22 house. 23 (iii) Members appointed by a member 24 of the lower house of the State legislature 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2646 IH who represents the political party with the 1 greatest number of seats in that house. 2 (iv) Members appointed by a member 3 of the lower house of the State legislature 4 who represents the political party with the 5 second greatest number of seats in that 6 house. 7 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM- 8 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 9 unicameral legislature, the independent redistricting 10 commission established under this subsection shall 11 be composed of— 12 (A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma- 13 jority vote of the other members of the commis- 14 sion; and 15 (B) an equal number of members (but not 16 fewer than 2) from each of the following cat- 17 egories: 18 (i) Members appointed by a member 19 of the legislature who shall be selected by 20 the chair of the Government Affairs Com- 21 mittee of the legislature to represent the 22 State political party whose candidate for 23 chief executive of the State received the 24 greatest number of votes on average in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2646 IH 3 most recent general elections for that of- 1 fice. 2 (ii) Members appointed by a member 3 of the legislature who shall be selected by 4 the chair of the Government Affairs Com- 5 mittee of the legislature to represent the 6 State political party whose candidate for 7 chief executive of the State received the 8 second greatest number of votes on aver- 9 age in the 3 most recent general elections 10 for that office. 11 (3) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual is eligible to 12 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 13 commission if— 14 (A) as of the date of appointment, the in- 15 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 16 Federal office held in the State, and was reg- 17 istered to vote in the 2 most recent general 18 elections for Federal office held in the State; 19 (B) the individual did not hold public office 20 or run as a candidate for election for public of- 21 fice, or serve as an employee of a political party 22 or candidate for election for public office, at 23 any time during the 4-year period ending on the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2646 IH December 31 preceding the date of appoint- 1 ment; and 2 (C) the individual certifies that he or she 3 will not run as a candidate for the office of 4 Representative in the Congress until after the 5 next apportionment of Representatives under 6 section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 7 provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decen- 8 nial censuses and to provide for an apportion- 9 ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 10 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a). 11 (4) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission 12 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 13 appointment was made. 14 (5) DEADLINE.—Each State shall establish a 15 commission under this section, and the members of 16 the commission shall appoint the commission’s chair, 17 not later than the date on which the chief executive 18 of a State receives the State apportionment notice. 19 (6) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR REQUIRED PRIOR 20 TO DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.—The 21 commission may not take any action to develop a re- 22 districting plan for the State under subsection (b) 23 until the appointment of the commission’s chair in 24 accordance with paragraph (1)(E). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2646 IH (7) REQUIRING ALL MEETINGS TO BE OPEN TO 1 PUBLIC.—The commission shall hold each of its 2 meetings in public. 3 (8) INTERNET SITE.—As soon as practicable 4 after establishing the commission, the State shall es- 5 tablish and maintain a public internet site for the 6 commission which meets the following requirements: 7 (A) The site is updated continuously to 8 provide advance notice of commission meetings 9 and to otherwise provide timely information on 10 the activities of the commission. 11 (B) The site contains the most recent 12 available information from the Bureau of the 13 Census on voting-age population, voter registra- 14 tion, and voting in the State, including pre- 15 cinct-level and census tract-level data with re- 16 spect to such information, as well as detailed 17 maps reflecting such information. 18 (C) The site includes interactive software 19 to enable any individual to design a redis- 20 tricting plan for the State on the basis of the 21 information described in subparagraph (B), in 22 accordance with the criteria described in sub- 23 section (b)(1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2646 IH (D) The site permits any individual to sub- 1 mit a proposed redistricting plan to the com- 2 mission, and to submit questions, comments, 3 and other information with respect to the com- 4 mission’s activities. 5 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 6 (1) CRITERIA.—The independent redistricting 7 commission of a State shall develop a redistricting 8 plan for the State in accordance with the following 9 criteria: 10 (A) Adherence to the ‘‘one person, one 11 vote’’ standard and other requirements imposed 12 under the Constitution of the United States. 13 (B) To the greatest extent mathematically 14 possible, ensuring that the population of each 15 Congressional district in the State does not 16 vary from the population of any other Congres- 17 sional district in the State (as determined on 18 the basis of the total count of persons of the 19 most recent decennial census conducted by the 20 Bureau of the Census). 21 (C) Consistency with any applicable re- 22 quirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 23 and other Federal laws. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2646 IH (D) To the greatest extent practicable, the 1 maintenance of the geographic continuity of the 2 political subdivisions of the State which are in- 3 cluded in the same Congressional district, in the 4 following order of priority: 5 (i) The continuity of counties or par- 6 ishes. 7 (ii) The continuity of municipalities. 8 (iii) The continuity of neighborhoods 9 (as determined on the basis of census 10 tracts or other relevant information). 11 (E) To the greatest extent practicable, 12 maintaining compact districts (in accordance 13 with such standards as the commission may es- 14 tablish). 15 (F) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 16 (except to the extent necessary to include any 17 area which is surrounded by a body of water). 18 (2) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER- 19 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 20 State, the independent redistricting commission may 21 not take into consideration any of the following fac- 22 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 23 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2646.IH H2646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2646 IH (A) The voting history of the population of 1 a Congressional district, except that the com- 2 mission may take such history into consider- 3 ation to the extent necessary to comply with 4 any State law which requires the establishment 5 of competitive Congressional districts. 6 (B) The political party affiliation of the 7 population of a district. 8 (C) The residence of incumbent Members 9 of the House of Representatives in the State. 10 (3) SOLICITATION OF PUBLIC INPUT IN DEVEL- 11 OPMENT OF PLANS.—The commission shall solicit 12 and take into consideration comments from the pub- 13 lic in developing the redistricting plan for the State 14 by holding meetings in representative geographic re- 15 gions of the State at which members of the public 16 may provide such input, and by otherwise soliciting 17 input from the public (including redistricting plans 18 developed by members of the public) through the 19 commission internet si [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]