{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s2226-116/featured_redistricting-reform-act-of-2019-1566586788.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s2226-116/featured_large_redistricting-reform-act-of-2019-1566586788.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s2226-116.png"},"introduced_on":"2019-07-23","title_override":"Should States Be Required to Have Independent, Bipartisan Redistricting Commissions?","summary_override":"

This bill — the Redistricting Reform Act of 2019 — would require states to establish independent, bipartisan redistricting commissions (referred to as Independent Redistricting Commissions, or IRCs) to draw fair statewide district maps after each decennial census. It would also set parameters for the creation of such commissions; establish eligibility requirements to prevent conflicts of interest to ensure members of the commissions aren’t lobbyists, political donors, or party operatives; and require commissions to operate transparently and reflect their states’ respective diverse populations.

The following criteria would be established for redistricting plans developed by the commissions:

Equal population per representative, in accordance with the U.S. Constitution;
Compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
Equal opportunity for political participation for racial, ethnic, and language minorities and no dilution or diminishment of their ability to elect candidates of choice, whether alone or in coalition with others; and
Geographically contiguous and compact districts with boundaries that minimize the division of communities of interest (such as counties, municipalities, or school districts, but not common relationships with political parties or political candidates).

This bill would also require commissions to: 1) hold a minimum number of public hearings for public comment before enacting redistricting plans; 2) pass redistricting plans by a majority vote that includes at least one commissioner from each political affiliation subgroup.

To help the commissions in their work, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) would be authorized to make payments to eligible state for the purpose of setting up IRCs and conducting redistricting.

Should a state fail to establish an IRC or enact an IRC’s congressional redistricting plan, this bill would authorize a three-judge court to develop and enact a plan. It would also allow the D.C. or local circuit court to conduct a state’s redistricting if an aggrieved party notifies the court of a state’s failure to establish an IRC or enact an IRC plan.

Finally, this bill would allow the Attorney General or any private citizen who is aggrieved by the failure of a state to meet the requirements of this bill to sue to enforce the bill in either the D.C. district court or the state’s local circuit court.

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Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.\r\n","page_title":"Ethics Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/ethics/black_ethics-1455842687.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/ethics/grey_ethics-1455842687.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/ethics/white_ethics-1455842687.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"transparency","name":"Transparency","slug":"transparency","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Transparency. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Transparency Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/transparency/black_transparency-1453508996.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/transparency/grey_transparency-1453508996.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/transparency/white_transparency-1453508996.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"states","name":"States","slug":"states","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding States. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"States Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/black_states-1453508817.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/grey_states-1453508817.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/white_states-1453508817.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"J","vote_count":1455,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-2.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/49Nbdk9r/following","followers":"/api/users/49Nbdk9r/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":5,"is_following":null,"influence_score":680,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":15,"following_count":1,"position_count":780,"id":"49Nbdk9r","partner_id":null},{"name":"jimK","vote_count":551,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/large_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/small_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/tiny_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/following","followers":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/followers"},"about_me":"Retired, Politically Independent. Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":46530,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1579,"following_count":85,"position_count":546,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"99172ca6-cdb8-4625-a586-a0398989d33e","argument_for":"And please keep associated communities together. People live together and their representatives need to recognize that and work with the community to solve problems. The time for divide and conquer will leave us all conquered and divided.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":1,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/99172ca6-cdb8-4625-a586-a0398989d33e"},"body":"And please keep associated communities together. People live together and their representatives need to recognize that and work with the community to solve problems. The time for divide and conquer will leave us all conquered and divided.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2019-09-15T03:39:33.616Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/99172ca6-cdb8-4625-a586-a0398989d33e.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"s2226-116","user_id":"49Nbdk9r","endorser_ids":["9odrQBnb"]}}

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Should States Be Required to Have Independent, Bipartisan Redistricting Commissions?