§ 5-B — An independent redistricting commission established

New York § 5-B

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law CNS: Constitution
• Art. III: Legislature

Text

§ 5-b. (a) On or before February first of each year ending with a zero\nand at any other time a court orders that congressional or state\nlegislative districts be amended, an independent redistricting\ncommission shall be established to determine the district lines for\ncongressional and state legislative offices. The independent\nredistricting commission shall be composed of ten members, appointed as\nfollows:\n (1) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the\nsenate;\n (2) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;\n (3) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the\nsenate;\n (4) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the\nassembly;\n (5) two members shall be appointed by the eight members appointed\npursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subdivision by a vote of\nnot less than five members in favor of such appointment, and these two\nmembers shall not have been enrolled in the preceding five years in\neither of the two political parties that contain the largest or second\nlargest number of enrolled voters within the state;\n (6) one member shall be designated chair of the commission by a\nmajority of the members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (5)\nof this subdivision to convene and preside over each meeting of the\ncommission.\n (b) The members of the independent redistricting commission shall be\nregistered voters in this state. No member shall within the last three\nyears:\n (1) be or have been a member of the New York state legislature or\nUnited States Congress or a statewide elected official;\n (2) be or have been a state officer or employee or legislative\nemployee as defined in section seventy-three of the public officers law;\n (3) be or have been a registered lobbyist in New York state;\n (4) be or have been a political party chairman, as defined in\nparagraph (k) of subdivision one of section seventy-three of the public\nofficers law;\n (5) be the spouse of a statewide elected official or of any member of\nthe United States Congress, or of the state legislature.\n (c) To the extent practicable, the members of the independent\nredistricting commission shall reflect the diversity of the residents of\nthis state with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, language, and\ngeographic residence and to the extent practicable the appointing\nauthorities shall consult with organizations devoted to protecting the\nvoting rights of minority and other voters concerning potential\nappointees to the commission.\n (d) Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled\nwithin thirty days in the manner provided for in the original\nappointments.\n (e) The legislature shall provide by law for the compensation of the\nmembers of the independent redistricting commission, including\ncompensation for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the\nperformance of their duties.\n (f) A minimum of five members of the independent redistricting\ncommission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business\nor the exercise of any power of such commission prior to the appointment\nof the two commission members appointed pursuant to paragraph (5) of\nsubdivision (a) of this section, and a minimum of seven members shall\nconstitute a quorum after such members have been appointed, and no\nexercise of any power of the independent redistricting commission shall\noccur without the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the\nmembers, provided that, in order to approve any redistricting plan and\nimplementing legislation, the following rules shall apply:\n (1) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of the same political party,\napproval of a redistricting plan and implementing legislation by the\ncommission for submission to the legislature shall require the vote in\nsupport of its approval by at least seven members including at least one\nmember appointed by each of the legislative leaders.\n (2) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of two different political parties,\napproval of a redistricting plan by the commission for submission to the\nlegislature shall require the vote in support of its approval by at\nleast seven members including at least one member appointed by the\nspeaker of the assembly and one member appointed by the temporary\npresident of the senate.\n (g) In the event that the commission is unable to obtain seven votes\nto approve a redistricting plan on or before January first in the year\nending in two or as soon as practicable thereafter, the commission shall\nsubmit to the legislature that redistricting plan and implementing\nlegislation that garnered the highest number of votes in support of its\napproval by the commission with a record of the votes taken. In the\nevent that more than one plan received the same number of votes for\napproval, and such number was higher than that for any other plan, then\nthe commission shall submit all plans that obtained such number of\nvotes. The legislature shall consider and vote upon such implementing\nlegislation in accordance with the voting rules set forth in subdivision\n(b) of section four of this article.\n (h) (1) The independent redistricting commission shall appoint two\nco-executive directors by a majority vote of the commission in\naccordance with the following procedure:\n (i) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of two different political parties,\nthe co-executive directors shall be approved by a majority of the\ncommission that includes at least one appointee by the speaker of the\nassembly and at least one appointee by the temporary president of the\nsenate.\n (ii) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of the same political party, the\nco-executive directors shall be approved by a majority of the commission\nthat includes at least one appointee by each of the legislative leaders.\n (2) One of the co-executive directors shall be enrolled in the\npolitical party with the highest number of enrolled members in the state\nand one shall be enrolled in the political party with the second highest\nnumber of enrolled members in the state. The co-executive directors\nshall appoint such staff as are necessary to perform the commission's\nduties, except that the commission shall review a staffing plan prepared\nand provided by the co-executive directors which shall contain a list of\nthe various positions and the duties, qualifications, and salaries\nassociated with each position.\n (3) In the event that the commission is unable to appoint one or both\nof the co-executive directors within forty-five days of the\nestablishment of a quorum of seven commissioners, the following\nprocedure shall be followed:\n (i) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of two different political parties,\nwithin ten days the speaker's appointees on the commission shall appoint\none co-executive director, and the temporary president's appointees on\nthe commission shall appoint the other co-executive director. Also\nwithin ten days the minority leader of the assembly shall select a\nco-deputy executive director, and the minority leader of the senate\nshall select the other co-deputy executive director.\n (ii) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of the same political party, within\nten days the speaker's and temporary president's appointees on the\ncommission shall together appoint one co-executive director, and the two\nminority leaders' appointees on the commission shall together appoint\nthe other co-executive director.\n (4) In the event of a vacancy in the offices of co-executive director\nor co-deputy executive director, the position shall be filled within ten\ndays of its occurrence by the same appointing authority or authorities\nthat appointed his or her predecessor.\n (i) The state budget shall include necessary appropriations for the\nexpenses of the independent redistricting commission, provide for\ncompensation and reimbursement of expenses for the members and staff of\nthe commission, assign to the commission any additional duties that the\nlegislature may deem necessary to the performance of the duties\nstipulated in this article, and require other agencies and officials of\nthe state of New York and its political subdivisions to provide such\ninformation and assistance as the commission may require to perform its\nduties.\n