HJR 94

After each decennial census , t he Tennessee Constitution requires the g eneral a ssembly to establish senatorial and representative districts , apportioned according to population . The g eneral a ssembly is also authorized to apportion one h ouse , either the senate or house of representatives, using geography, political subdivisions, substantially equal population , and other criteria as factors . Such apportionment must comply with the feder al c onstitution. This resolution proposes an amendment that removes the above constitutional provisions that require and authorize the general assembly to establish districts and, instead, establishes an independent redistricting commission as outlined be low. APPORTIONMENT Number of Representatives The Tennessee Constitution requires 99 r epresentatives be apportioned among the several counties or districts. Counties having two or more r epresentatives must be divided into separate districts. In a dis trict composed of two or more counties, each county must adjoin at least one other county of such district and no county may be divided in forming such a district. Each district must be represented by a qualified voter of that district. This proposed amendment removes the ability and requirement of the general assembly to apportion the representatives and requires the representatives to be apportioned among the counties or districts substantially according to population. This amendmen t further revises the provision that prohibits a district having multiple counties from dividing a county to form the district, to, instead, allow a county to be divided only once to be included in a district with more than one county. Number of Senator s Likewise, the Tennessee Constitution requires the number of senators to not exceed one-third the number of r epresentatives . This proposed amendment makes the same changes as described above to the senate. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION Estab lishment and Commissioner Qualifications This proposed amendment establishes a n independent redistricting commission for state legislative and congressional districts as a permanent commission in the legislative branch. The commission consist s of 13 com missioners. The commission must adopt a redistricting plan for state senate districts, state house of representatives districts, and congressional districts. Each commissioner must meet the following criteria :  Be registered and eligible to vote in th is state.  Not currently be, or in the past six years have been, (i) a declared candidate for partisan federal, state, or local office; (ii) an elected official to partisan federal, state, or local office; (iii) an officer or member of the governing body of a national, state, or local political party; (iv) a paid consultant or employee of a federal, state, or local elected official or political candidate; of a federal, state, or local political candidate's campaign; or of a political action committee; (v) a n employee of the legislature; (vi) a person who is registered as a lobbyist with the Tennessee ethics commission or any employee of such person; or (vii) a state employee in an executive service position .  Not be a parent, stepparent, child, stepchild, or spouse of any individual disqualified under the above list.  Not be otherwise disqualified for appointed or elected office by this constitution. For five years after the date of appointment, this proposed amendment prohibits a commissioner from holding a partisan state or local elective office in this state. Application a nd Selection Process N o later than January 1 of the year of the federal decennial census , this proposed amendment requires t he secret ary of state ("the secretary"") to m ake applications for commissioner available to the general public and circulate the applications in a manner that invites wide public participation from different regions of the state. The secretary must also, by January 1, mail applications to 10, 000 Tennessee registered voters selected at random . Each applicant must provide a completed application, attest under oath that they meet the qualifications, and either that they affiliate with one of the two major political pa rties with the largest representation in the legislature or that they do not affiliate with either of the major parties. If an applicant does affiliate with one of the two major political parties, then the applicant must identify the affiliation. This p roposed amendment also requires the secretary to mail additional applications to registered voters in this state, selected at random, until at least 30 qualifying applicants that affiliate with one of the two major parties have submitted applications, at least 30 qualifying applicants that identify that they affiliate with the other party have submitted applications, and at least 40 qualifying applicants that identify that they do not affiliate with either party have submitted applications, each in response to the mailings. The secretary must accept applications for commissioner until June 1 of the same year. By July 1 of the same year, from all of the applications submitted, this proposed amendment requires the secretary to :  Eliminate incomplete applications and applications of applicants who do not meet the qualifications, based solely on the information contained in the applications .  Randomly select 60 applicants from each pool of affiliating applicants and 80 applicants from the pool of non-affiliating applicants, and 50% of each pool must be populated from the qualifying applicants who returned an application mailed pursuant to the above described application process. However, if fewer than 30 qualifying applicants affiliated with a major party or fewer than 40 qualifying non-affiliating applicants have applied to serve on the commission in response to the random mailing, the balance of the pool must be populated from the balance of qualifying applicants to that pool. The random selection process used by the secretary to fill the selection pools must use accepted statistical weighting methods to ensure that the pools, as closely as possible, mirror the geographic and demographic makeup of the state .  Submit the randomly selected applications to the speaker of the senate and the minority leader of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives and the minority leader of the house of representatives. By August 1 of the same year, this proposed amendment authorizes such members listed above to each strike up to five applicants from any pool or pools. By September 1 of the same year, this proposed amendment requires the secretary to randomly draw the names of four commissioners from each of the two pools of remaining applicants affiliating with a major party, and five commissioners from the pool of remaining non-affiliating applicants. Terms and Vacancies Except as provided below, this proposed amendment requires commissioners to hold office for a term that expires once the commission has completed the commission's obligations for a census cycle but not before any judicial review of the redistricting plan i s complete. If a commissioner's seat becomes vacant for any reason, then the secretary must fill the vacancy by randomly drawing a name from the remaining qualifying applicants in the selection pool from which the original commissioner was selected. A co mmissioner's office becomes vacant upon the occurrence of any of the following:  The d eath or mental incapacity of the commissioner .  The secretary 's receipt of the commissioner's written resignation .  The commissioner is, or was within the immediately preceding 20 years, convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust and the conviction is or was related to the person's official capacity while the person was holding any elective office or position of employment in local, state, or federal government .  The commissioner ceases to be qualified to serve as a commissioner under this proposed amendment.  After written notice and an opportunity for the commissioner to respond, a vote of 10 of the commissioners finding substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office. Administration and F unding This proposed amendment requires t he secretary to be secretary of the commission without vot e and to furnish all technical services that the commission deems necessary. The commission must elect its own chairperson and has sole power to make its own rules of procedure. The commission has procurement and contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants for the purpose s of its administration and funding . Beginning no later than July 1 of the year before the federal decennial census, and continuing each year in which the commission operates, this proposed amendment requires the legislature to appropriate funds sufficient to compensate the commissioners and to enable the commission to carry out its functions, operations, and activities at an amount equal to not less than 25% of the general fund budget for the secretary for that fiscal year. Wi thin six months after the conclusion of each fiscal year, the commission must return all unexpended moneys . The commission must furnish reports of expenditures, at least annually, to the governor and the legislature and is subject to annual audit as provi ded by law. Each commissioner must receive compensation at least equal to 25% of the governor's salary. The state must indemnify commissioners for costs incurred if the legislature does not appropriate sufficient funds to cover such costs. This propose d amendment provides that t he commission has legal standing to prosecute an action regarding the adequacy of resources provided for the operation of the commission, and to defend any action regarding an adopted plan. The commission must inform the legisla ture if the commission determines that funds or other resources are not adequate. The legislature must provide adequate funding to allow any action regarding an adopted plan to be defended. Meetings and Plan Development This proposed amendment requires t he secretary to convene the commission by October 15 in the year of the federal decennial census. By November 1 the next year, the commission must adopt a redistricting plan for state senate districts, state house of representatives districts, a nd congressional districts. Before commissioners draft any plan, this proposed amendment requires the commission to hold at least 10 public hearings throughout the state. The commission must accept for consideration written submissions of proposed redis tricting plans and any supporting materials from any member of the public. These written submissions are public records. After developing at least one proposed redistricting plan for each type of district, this proposed amendment requires the commission to publish the proposed redistricting plans and any data and supporting materials used to develop the plans. Each commissioner may only propose one redistricting plan for each type of district. The commission must hold at least five public hearings thro ughout the state for the purpose of soliciting comments from the public about the proposed plans. Each of the proposed plans must include such census data as is necessary to accurately describe the plan and verify the population of each district, and a ma p and legal description that include the political subdivisions and man-made or natural features that form the boundaries of the districts. This proposed amendment requires e ach commissioner to perform commission duties in a manner that is impartial. The commission must conduct all of its business at open meetings. Nine commissioners, including at least one commissioner from each selection pool constitute a quorum, and all meetings require a quorum. The commiss ion must provide advance public notice of its meetings and hearings. The commission must conduct its hearings in a manner that invites wide public participation . The commission must use technology to provide contemporaneous public observation and meaning ful public participation in the redistricting process during all meetings and hearings. This proposed amendment prohibits t he commission, and the commission's members, staff, attorneys, and consultants, from discuss ing redistricting matters with members of the public outside of an open meeting of the commission, except that a commissioner may communicate about redistricting matters with members of the public to gain information relevant to the performance of the commissioner's duties if such communicatio n occurs in writing or at a previously publicly noticed forum or town hall open to the general public. This proposed amendment also prohibits t he commission, and the commission's members, staff, attorneys, experts, and consultants, from directly or indire ctly solicit ing or accept ing any gift or loan of money, goods, services, or other thing of value greater than $20 for the benefit of any person or organization, which may influence the manner in which such person performs their duties. Decisions Except as provided in the plan adoption procedures outlined below, this proposed amendment requires a final decision of the commission to have the concurrence of a majority of the commissioners. A decision on the dismissal or retention of paid staff or consulta nts requires the vote of at least one commissioner affiliating with each of the major parties and one non-affiliating commissioner. All decisions of the commission must be recorded, and the record of the commission's decisions must be readily available to any member of the public without charge. Criteria for D istrict P lans Th is proposed amendment requires the commission to abide by all of the following criteria in proposing and adopting each plan, in order of priority:  Districts must be of equal population, or substantially equal population, as mandated by the federal constitution, and must comply with the voting rights act and other federal laws .  Districts must be geographically contiguous. Island areas are considered to be contiguous by land to the county of which they are a part .  Districts must reflect consideration of county and municipal boundaries .  Districts must be reasonably compact .  Districts must reflect the state's diverse population and communities of interest.  Districts must not provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party, which is to be determined using accepted measures of partisan fairness .  Districts must not favor or disfavor an incumbent elected official or a candidate. Plan Adoption Procedure Before voting to adopt a plan, this proposed amendment requires the following:  T he commission to ensure that the plan is tested, using appropriate technology, for compliance with the criteria for district plans as described above.  T he commission must provide public notice of each plan that will be voted on and provide at least 45 days for public comment.  Each plan that will be voted on must include such census data as is necessary to accurately describe the plan and verify the population of each district, and must include the required map and legal description. This proposed amendment requires a majority vote of the commission to adopt a redistricting plan, including at least two commissioners who affiliate with each major party, and at least two commissioners who do not affiliate with either major party. If no plan satisfies this requirement for a type of district, then the commission must use the following procedure to adopt a plan for that type of district:  Each commissioner may submit one proposed plan for each type of district to the full commission for consideration .  Each commissioner must rank the plans submitted according to preference. Each plan must be assigned a point value inverse to its ranking among the number of choices, giving the lowest ranked plan one point and the highest ranked plan a point value equal to the number of plans submitted .  The commission must adopt the plan receiving the highest total points that is also ranked among the top half of plans by at least two commissioners not affiliated with the party of the commissioner submitting the plan, or, in the case of a plan submitted by non-affiliated commissioners, is ranked among the top half of plans by at least two commissioners affiliated with a major party. If plans are tied for the highest point total, then the secretary must randomly select the final plan from those plans. If no plan meets the se requirements, then the secretary must randomly select the final plan from among all of the submitted plans from the commissioners. Plan Publication, Reporting, and Effective Date Within 30 days of adopting a plan, this proposed amendment requires the commission to publish the plan and the material reports, reference materials, and data used in drawing it, including any programming information used to produce and test the plan. The materials must be published in such a manner that an independent person is able to replicate the conc l usion without any modification of any of the published materials. F or each adopted plan, t he commission must issue a report that explains the basis on which the commission made its decisions in achieving compliance with plan requirements and must include requires the map and legal description . A commissioner who votes against a redistricting plan may submit a dissenting report to be issued with the commission's report. This proposed amendment provides that a n adopted redistricting plan becomes law 60 da ys after its publication. The secretary must keep a public record of all proceedings of the commission and publish and distribute each plan and required documentation. Judicial R eview and S everability This proposed amendment requires t he state supreme court, in the exercise of original jurisdiction, to direct the secretary or the commission to perform their respective duties . The supreme court may review a challenge to any plan adopted by the commission, and must remand a plan to the commission for further action if the plan fails to comply with the requirements of th e state constitution, the federal constitution, or superseding federal law. All bodies, except the independent redistricting commission, are prohibited from promulgat ing and adopt i ng a redistricting plan or plans for this state. Constitutional Interpretation and Protection of Commission Function For purposes of interpreting this constitutional amendment, this resolution proposes that the powers granted to the commission are leg islative functions not subject to the control or approval of the legislature, and are exclusively reserved to the commission. The commission, and all of its responsibilities, operations, functions, contractors, consultants, and employees are not subject t o change, transfer, reorganization, or reassignment, and must not be altered or abrogated in any manner whatsoever, by the legislature. No other body may be established by law to perform functions that are the same or similar to those granted to the commi ssion in this proposed amendment . Anti-Retaliation Protections This proposed amendment prohibits an employer from discharg ing, threaten ing to discharge, intimidat ing, coerc ing, or retaliat ing against an employee because of the employee's membership on the commission or attendance or scheduled attendance at any meeting of the commission."