The 14 member independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission (Commission) will hold a public input hearing Wednesday, February 1st at 5:00 p.m. at the State Capitol in Sacramento, Room 113. The purpose of the hearings is to solicit public comment regarding amendments to California Government Code sections 8251-8253.6 that govern the Commission and the redistricting process. The Constitutional and statutory language can be found on the Commission's website, www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov.
The Commission hearings will focus on changes to Govt. Code sections 8251-8253.6. Suggested changes to Article 21 of the California Constitution, governing regulations, or to the general operations of the Commission not required by statute can be submitted to the Commission in writing but will not be included in the amendment process contemplated in the spring legislative session. These changes may be addressed at a later date and/or in a different process.
The Commission will take public testimony and consider it equally with suggested changes generated by individual Commissioners or Commission committees. The Commission will take the accumulated list and compare and contrast those suggestions with suggestions from the government entities responsible for significant parts of the redistricting process or the Commission's operation, including the Bureau of State Audits, the Secretary of State, and/or the Department of Finance. In the end, the Commission will exercise its sole authority under Section 8251 (c) and vote, by special majority, on a final set of amendments that will be presented to the legislature and its staff for review, comment and suggested changes. Any subsequent changes to the statutory amendments proposed by the Commission will be subject to a separate and final vote by the Commission, utilizing a special majority vote, before any version of statutory amendments can be made final by a vote of the legislature.
Organized groups will be given a maximum of 20 minutes to give a presentation specific to statutory amendments. The Commission will then reserve a maximum of 10 minutes for questions and responses regarding the proposed amendments. The Commission's chair reserves the right to extend the length of time provided for a presentation or for the questions and responses that may be necessary during this process. The Commission's chair also reserves the right to end any presentation at any time that is not specific to statutory amendments. Groups wishing to present to the Commission should send the name of their organization, names of individuals who will speak and a brief description of their group to votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov no later than January 30th.
A guide to the statutory amendment process is available at the Commission's website at www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov.
Individuals who wish to give testimony to the Commission can obtain a speaker number beginning one hour prior to the start of the input meeting. Speakers will be allotted 5 minutes for this testimony. All individual testimony will follow the group presentations after a 15 minute break.
If speaker demand is too great to accommodate every individual or group that wishes to make a presentation, the Commission's chair may extend the length of time for presentation on the date of the public input meeting or may recommend that additional comments be allowed on another day. Otherwise, any remaining presenters will be encouraged to submit their suggestions on the Commission's website or directly to the Commission's staff. Finally, the Commission encourages the public to use alternative methods to submit testimony by e-mail at votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov, fax at 916-651-5711 or by mail to the Citizens Redistricting Commission, 901 P Street, Suite 154A, Sacramento, CA 95814.
