Create Independent Redistricting Commission

Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 5-a of the legislative law, as added by chapter 630 of the laws of 1998, the opening paragraph as amended by section 1 of part S of chapter 57 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:

3. Any member of the assembly serving in a special capacity in a position set forth in the following schedule shall be paid the allowance set forth in such schedule only for the legislative term commencing January first, two thousand seventeen and terminating December thirty-first, two thousand eighteen:

ASSEMBLYMEN SERVING IN SPECIAL CAPACITY

Chairman of legislative commission on public management systems ........................................................ 12,500 Chairman of legislative commission on science and technology ..................................................... 12,500 Co-chairman of the legislative commission on water resource needs of New York state and Long Island ......... no allowance [Co-chairman of the legislative task force on demographic research and reapportionment ...................... 15,000] Chairman of the assembly task force on farm,

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD01395-01-7

A. 36 2

food and nutrition ............................................. 12,500 Ranking minority member of the assembly task force on farm, food and nutrition ..................................... 9,000 Chairman of the legislative commission on skills development and career education ............................... 12,500 Vice-Chairman of the legislative commission on the development of rural resources ................................. 12,500

§ 2. Subdivision 5 of section 12 of the legislative law, as added by chapter 141 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:

5. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, services and expenses of the legislative health service, legislative library, legislative messenger service, legislative ethics committee, [joint operations of the legislative task force on demographic research and reapportionment] apportionment commission, and contributions to the national conference of state legislatures shall be payable after audit by and on the warrant of the comptroller upon vouchers certified by the temporary president of the senate or his or her designee and the speaker of the assembly or his or her designee.

§ 3. Section 83-m of the legislative law is REPEALED.

§ 4. The legislative law is amended by adding a new article 6-B to read as follows:

ARTICLE 6-B

APPORTIONMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL

AND STATE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS Section 95. Legislative intent.

96. Apportionment nominations committee.

97. Powers and duties of committee.

98. Apportionment commission.

99. Powers and duties of commission.

99-A. Apportionment.

99-B. Application of article.

§ 95. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and declares that:

1. there is a need for intensive and thorough study, research and inquiry into the techniques and methodology to be used by the bureau of the census of the United States commerce department in carrying out the decennial federal census;

2. a technical plan will be needed to meet the requirements of a legislative timetable for a reapportionment of the senate and assembly districts and the congressional districts of the state based on such census; and

3. the apportionment commission is necessary to assist the legislature in the performance of its responsibilities and in the conduct of legislative research projects relating thereto.

§ 96. Apportionment nominations committee. 1. On or before the first of December of each year ending with a nine or as soon as possible after the effective date of this article, there shall be established an apportionment nominations committee to select those persons who shall be eligible to be appointed as members of the apportionment commission created in section ninety-eight of this article. Each such committee shall remain in existence until its duties pursuant to section ninetyseven of this article have been completed.

2. The apportionment nominations committee shall be composed of eight members, appointed as follows:

(a) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate;

A. 36 3

(b) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;

(c) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; and

(d) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly.

3. The apportionment nominations committee shall designate two co-chairs from among its members by a simple majority vote of all members.

4. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall be registered voters in this state. No member of such committee shall:

(a) hold or have held within the previous two years an elected governmental office;

(b) hold or have held within the previous two years any other appointed governmental or political party position;

(c) be employed or have been employed within the previous two years in any other position by the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system;

(d) be or have been within the previous two years a registered lobbyist in this state pursuant to article one-A of this chapter;

(e) be the spouse of any member of the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system; or

(f) be related within the third degree of consanguinity to any member of the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system, or to the spouse of any such person.

5. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

6. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall be appointed and serve for the duration of such committee. All vacancies in the membership of such committee shall be filled in the manner provided for original appointments.

§ 97. Powers and duties of committee. 1. The apportionment nominations committee shall have the power and duty to, on or before the first of March in each year ending with a zero or as soon as possible after the effective date of this article, establish a list of forty persons who shall be eligible to be appointed as members of the apportionment commission. Such list shall hereinafter be referred to in this article as the "nominations pool".

2. The members of the apportionment nominations committee shall by majority vote select each person to be included in the nominations pool. Upon completion of such pool, such committee shall submit a copy of the nominations pool to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly.

3. The nominations pool shall include:

(a) fifteen persons who are enrolled as Democrats;

(b) fifteen persons who are enrolled as Republicans; and

(c) ten persons who are not enrolled as either Democrats or Republicans.

4. Persons selected to the nominations pool shall be registered voters in this state. No such person shall:

A. 36 4

(a) hold or have held within the previous two years an elected governmental office;

(b) hold or have held within the previous two years any other appointed governmental or political party position;

(c) be a member of the apportionment nominations committee created in section ninety-six of this article;

(d) be employed or have been employed within the previous two years in any other position by the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system;

(e) be or have been within the previous two years a registered lobbyist in this state pursuant to article one-A of this chapter;

(f) be the spouse of any member of the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system; or

(g) be related within the third degree of consanguinity to any member of the United States Congress, the state legislature, the executive chamber, the unified court system or the federal court system, or to the spouse of any such person.

5. (a) The nominations pool shall include at least three persons from each of the following regions of the state, with the remainder to be nominated from such regions in proportion to the distribution of the state's population in each region:

(i) Long Island;

(ii) New York city;

(iii) Hudson Valley;

(iv) Northern;

(v) Central;

(vi) Southern tier; and

(vii) Western.

(b) For the purposes of this subdivision, the following regions shall be composed of the following counties;

(i) Long Island: the counties of Nassau and Suffolk;

(ii) New York city: the counties of Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond;

(iii) Hudson Valley: the counties of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Albany and Schenectady;

(iv) Northern: the counties of Saratoga, Washington, Warren, Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Hamilton, Fulton, Herkimer, Lewis and Jefferson;

(v) Central: the counties of Schoharie, Montgomery, Otsego, Chenango, Madison, Oneida, Oswego, Cortland, Onondaga and Cayuga;

(vi) Southern tier: the counties of Sullivan, Delaware, Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Steuben, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua; and

(vii) Western: the counties of Seneca, Yates, Ontario, Wayne, Monroe, Livingston, Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans, Niagara and Erie.

6. To the extent practicable, the apportionment nominations committee shall ensure that the nominations pool reflects the diversity of the residents of the state with regard to race, ethnicity and gender.

§ 98. Apportionment commission. 1. There shall be created an apportionment commission to assist the legislature in the reapportionment of congressional, senate and assembly districts based on the ensuing federal census, pursuant to section two of article one of the United States Constitution and sections four and five of article three of the state constitution.

A. 36 5

2. The apportionment commission shall be composed of eleven members, appointed from the nominations pool as follows:

(a) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate;

(b) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;

(c) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate;

(d) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly; and

(e) three members shall be appointed, on or before the thirtieth day after a vacancy in any such position occurs, by the eight members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subdivision by a vote of not less than six members in favor of each such appointment, and each vacancy in any position filled pursuant to this paragraph shall be deemed to create vacancies in all three positions held by the members so appointed; provided that any such member may be reappointed pursuant to this paragraph. In the event that three members are not appointed on or before the thirtieth day after a vacancy in any such position occurs if:

(i) two persons are appointed with the required six votes and no other person receives six votes, the third such member shall be appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals within thirty days thereafter;

(ii) one person is appointed with the required six votes and no two other persons receive six votes, the two persons receiving the most votes shall be appointed as members; and

(iii) no three persons receive six votes, the two persons receiving the most votes shall be appointed as members and the third member shall be appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals.

(f) The chair shall be designated, from among the three members appointed pursuant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision, by a simple majority vote of all members of the commission; provided that if the commission fails to designate a chair, the chair shall be designated by the chief judge of the court of appeals.

3. (a) No more than four members of the apportionment commission shall be enrolled in the same political party.

(b) To the extent practicable, the members of the apportionment commission shall reflect the diversity of the residents of this state with regard to race, ethnicity, gender and geographic residence.