Tuesday Two-fer! Prop 20 vs. Prop 27 - Congressional Redistricting
Propositions 20 and 27 are mutually exclusive - if they both pass, only the one with the higher vote total will pass. Both Propositions address Proposition 11, passed in November 2008, which created the Citizens' Redistricting Board, and charged it with redrawing State Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization (BOE) districts.
Props 20 and 27 - Congressional Redistricting
The Way It Is Now:
Prior to November 2008, redrawing lines for U.S. Congressional, State Senate, Assembly, and BOE districts was delegated to the California Legislature. Though several attempts have been floated to change this system, none succeeded prior to November 2008 (several were voted down by the voters, while at least one was ruled unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court). Following the 1990 census, the California Supreme Court even stepped in and declared the Legislature's district map to be illegal (though oddly, it had to do with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 than to the blatantly gerrymandered district lines).
In November 2008, the voters passed Proposition 11, which created the Citizens' Redistricting Board, and tasked it with redrawing the lines for State offices. The CRB is composed of 14 members: 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 4 members of neither party. The CRB must draw and submit three maps to the Secretary of State, each of which is put to a vote of the populace, with the highest vote-getter becoming the adopted district map (NOTE: obviously, given that Prop 11 passed in 2008, and the 2010 census isn't complete yet, we haven't even completed a single round of the described plan). Prop 11 required the CRB to respect the integrity of "communities of interest," but didn't define the term.
However, Prop 11 did not empower the CRB to re-draw Federal Congressional districts. Currently, the Legislature still has the power/duty to redraw those lines.
What These Props Change - Starting with Prop 20:
Prop 20 makes several minor changes to Prop 11, such as defining the term "community of interest," requiring the CRB to prepare four final maps instead of three, allowing any citizen to sue the State for any irregularities, and appointing the Supreme Court as having original and final authority for such lawsuits, as well as prioritizing such suits. However, it makes one HUGE change - it includes U.S. Congressional districts in the CRB's bailiwick. That's pretty much it.
On The Other Hand - Prop 27:
Whereas Prop 20 is relaively simple, Prop 27 is pretty much just as simple. Whereas Prop 20 expands Prop 11 to include U.S. Congressional districts, Prop 27 eliminates the CRB entirely. Prop 27 returns authority to draw district lines to the Legislature. The only difference between the world under Prop 27 and the world prior to Prop 11 is that the Legislature (as opposed to the CRB) must submit four final maps to the people for a referendum vote within two years of the census. One other thing Prop 27 does is cap the expenditures for the redistricting process to $2.5 million every three years.
My Take:
Well, any of you who've even followed these things even casually knows that redistricting is one of my big issues. Ever since 1980, when I lived in a district that included a section that ran several miles through uninhabitable swampland, also was, for about a mile, the width of a street (way back when, Marin County was mostly Republican, and needed chunks of Vallejo and central San Francisco to make it loyal to Democrat Barbara Boxer), I have been passionate about taking the keys to the henhouse out of the blood-dripping fangs of the foxes in Sacramento and DC.
So it should surprise no one that my vote on Prop 20 is an emphatic YES.
On the other hand, it seems that every time a Proposition comes up proposing to change the one greatest achilles heel of representative republicanism (small "r," as in, being part of a representative republic), a cadre of incumbents crawls out of their cesspit to lie horribly about what the Prop will do, and in the event the Prop actually passes, sue to declare the Prop unconstitutional or illegal, all in the name of "voter choice." Well, this time, the invested weasels have a new line of whale dung - that somehow they're credible protectors of the common till. The unmitigated gall of State Congressbastards claiming that the final, impending reclaiming of power out of their money-soaked hands is actually the dollar that broke the camel's back, and not the billions of dollars of waste and malfeasance od their spending and taxing the dwindling well of producers in this State (see Prop 25), is an insult to the intelligence - in fact, would be an inslult to the intelligence of a wilted leaf of moldy lettuce. I cannot encourage you, the reader, in strong enough terms, to reject this sleazy attempt to re-steal the power the people only finally managed to pry out of the cloven claws of their "representatives." Here's a shock, my vote is the biggest NO of this election season.
Props 20 and 27 - Congressional Redistricting
The Way It Is Now:
Prior to November 2008, redrawing lines for U.S. Congressional, State Senate, Assembly, and BOE districts was delegated to the California Legislature. Though several attempts have been floated to change this system, none succeeded prior to November 2008 (several were voted down by the voters, while at least one was ruled unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court). Following the 1990 census, the California Supreme Court even stepped in and declared the Legislature's district map to be illegal (though oddly, it had to do with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 than to the blatantly gerrymandered district lines).
In November 2008, the voters passed Proposition 11, which created the Citizens' Redistricting Board, and tasked it with redrawing the lines for State offices. The CRB is composed of 14 members: 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 4 members of neither party. The CRB must draw and submit three maps to the Secretary of State, each of which is put to a vote of the populace, with the highest vote-getter becoming the adopted district map (NOTE: obviously, given that Prop 11 passed in 2008, and the 2010 census isn't complete yet, we haven't even completed a single round of the described plan). Prop 11 required the CRB to respect the integrity of "communities of interest," but didn't define the term.
However, Prop 11 did not empower the CRB to re-draw Federal Congressional districts. Currently, the Legislature still has the power/duty to redraw those lines.
What These Props Change - Starting with Prop 20:
Prop 20 makes several minor changes to Prop 11, such as defining the term "community of interest," requiring the CRB to prepare four final maps instead of three, allowing any citizen to sue the State for any irregularities, and appointing the Supreme Court as having original and final authority for such lawsuits, as well as prioritizing such suits. However, it makes one HUGE change - it includes U.S. Congressional districts in the CRB's bailiwick. That's pretty much it.
On The Other Hand - Prop 27:
Whereas Prop 20 is relaively simple, Prop 27 is pretty much just as simple. Whereas Prop 20 expands Prop 11 to include U.S. Congressional districts, Prop 27 eliminates the CRB entirely. Prop 27 returns authority to draw district lines to the Legislature. The only difference between the world under Prop 27 and the world prior to Prop 11 is that the Legislature (as opposed to the CRB) must submit four final maps to the people for a referendum vote within two years of the census. One other thing Prop 27 does is cap the expenditures for the redistricting process to $2.5 million every three years.
My Take:
Well, any of you who've even followed these things even casually knows that redistricting is one of my big issues. Ever since 1980, when I lived in a district that included a section that ran several miles through uninhabitable swampland, also was, for about a mile, the width of a street (way back when, Marin County was mostly Republican, and needed chunks of Vallejo and central San Francisco to make it loyal to Democrat Barbara Boxer), I have been passionate about taking the keys to the henhouse out of the blood-dripping fangs of the foxes in Sacramento and DC.
So it should surprise no one that my vote on Prop 20 is an emphatic YES.
On the other hand, it seems that every time a Proposition comes up proposing to change the one greatest achilles heel of representative republicanism (small "r," as in, being part of a representative republic), a cadre of incumbents crawls out of their cesspit to lie horribly about what the Prop will do, and in the event the Prop actually passes, sue to declare the Prop unconstitutional or illegal, all in the name of "voter choice." Well, this time, the invested weasels have a new line of whale dung - that somehow they're credible protectors of the common till. The unmitigated gall of State Congressbastards claiming that the final, impending reclaiming of power out of their money-soaked hands is actually the dollar that broke the camel's back, and not the billions of dollars of waste and malfeasance od their spending and taxing the dwindling well of producers in this State (see Prop 25), is an insult to the intelligence - in fact, would be an inslult to the intelligence of a wilted leaf of moldy lettuce. I cannot encourage you, the reader, in strong enough terms, to reject this sleazy attempt to re-steal the power the people only finally managed to pry out of the cloven claws of their "representatives." Here's a shock, my vote is the biggest NO of this election season.