| Chapter 176 |
| 2021 -- S 0852 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 07/06/2021 |
| A N A C T |
| ESTABLISHING A REAPPORTIONMENT COMMISSION |
Introduced By: Senators Ruggerio, McCaffrey, Gallo, Coyne, Goodwin, and Picard |
| Date Introduced: April 28, 2021 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Establishment of commission. - (a) There is hereby created a special |
| commission on reapportionment, which shall consist of eighteen (18) members: four (4) of whom |
| shall be from the house of representatives, to be appointed by the speaker; two (2) of whom shall |
| be from the house of representatives, to be appointed by the minority leader of the house of |
| representatives; four (4) of whom shall be from the senate, to be appointed by the president of the |
| senate; two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; three (3) of whom |
| shall be members of the general public to be appointed by the speaker; and three (3) of whom shall |
| be members of the general public to be appointed by the president of the senate. |
| (b) It shall be the purpose and responsibility of the commission to draft and to report to the |
| general assembly an act to reapportion the districts of the general assembly and the state's United |
| States congressional districts and to perform the necessary functions incident to drafting such an |
| act including, but not limited to, the division of the state into seventy-five (75) state representative |
| districts, thirty-eight (38) state senatorial districts, and two (2) United States congressional districts |
| as near equal as possible, subject to the final 2020 census data provided by the United States Census |
| Bureau. |
| (c) Forthwith upon the passage of this act, the members of the commission shall meet and |
| organize, and shall select from among themselves a chairman. Vacancies in said the commission |
| shall be filled in like manner as the original appointment. |
| (d) The membership of said the commission shall receive no compensation for their |
| services. The commission may engage such clerical, technical, and other assistance as it may deem |
| necessary and spend such other funds as may be necessary to accomplish its purposes. |
| (e) All departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and information, |
| documentary and otherwise, to said the commission and its agents as is deemed necessary or |
| desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this act. |
| (f) The joint committee on legislative services is hereby authorized and directed to provide |
| suitable quarters for said the commission, and provide technical and other assistance to the |
| commission as it may deem necessary to facilitate the purposes of this act. |
| (g) The commission is hereby authorized to accept from local, state, and federal |
| government agencies, grants in money, services or other types of assistance in carrying out the |
| purposes of said the commission. |
| SECTION 2. Reapportionment standards. - (a) All districts shall be single member districts. |
| (b) Congressional and state legislative districts shall comply with all requirements of the |
| United States Constitution. All state legislative districts shall comply with all requirements of the |
| United States Constitution and of the Rhode Island Constitution, and recognize pertinent or |
| applicable federal legislation and court precedent, including, but not limited to, the Voting Rights |
| Act of 1965. |
| (c) Congressional and state legislative districts shall be as nearly equal in population as |
| possible, and: |
| (1) In no case shall congressional districts vary in population by more than one percent |
| (1%) from each other as determined by the population reported in the federal census in 2020; and |
| (2) In no case shall a single state senate district have a population which that varies by |
| more than five percent (5%) from the average population of all senate districts as determined by |
| the population reported in the federal census in 2020, and in no case shall a single state |
| representative district have a population which that varies by more than five percent (5%) from |
| the average population of all representative districts as determined by the population reported in |
| the federal census in 2020. |
| (3) Congressional and state legislative districts shall be subject to the final 2020 census |
| data provided by the United States Census Bureau. |
| (d) Congressional and state legislative districts shall be as compact in territory as possible |
| and, to the extent practicable, shall reflect natural, historical, geographical, municipal, and other |
| political lines and communities of interest, as well as the right of all Rhode Islanders to fair |
| representation and equal access to the political process. |
| (e) To the extent practicable, congressional and state legislative districts shall be composed |
| of contiguous territory. |
| (f) To the extent practicable, the commission should endeavor to avoid the division of state |
| representative districts in the formation of state senate districts and the division of state senate |
| districts in the formation of United States congressional districts in any manner which that would |
| result in the creation of voting districts composed of fewer than one hundred (100) potential voters. |
| SECTION 3. Public access. - (a) The commission shall set its own rules of procedure. |
| (b) The commission shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 42-46 of title 42 ("open |
| meetings") and chapter 38-2 of title 38 ("access to public records") of the general laws. |
| (c) The commission shall conduct public hearings prior to the issuance of its findings and |
| recommendations. |
| (d) Members of the public shall have access to the technical software used for district |
| mapping in a location to be determined, in the state house, on a sign up basis, during reasonable |
| business hours as determined by the commission. |
| (e)(i) The commission shall have the discretion to determine if there exists a public health |
| or other emergency or circumstance that could pose a risk to the health and safety of the public and |
| members and staff of the commission, that would affect public access to the state house to utilize |
| the technical software used for district mapping. |
| (ii) Due to the dangers to public health and safety posed by the ongoing COVID-19 |
| pandemic, and to provide the public with alternative means of accessing information, the |
| commission, with public notice on the general assembly website, shall provide the public with |
| access to the web-based software program used for district mapping. |
| SECTION 4. Reporting date. - The commission shall report its findings and |
| recommendations to the general assembly on or before January 15, 2022. |
| SECTION 5. Severability. - The provisions of this act are severable, and if any provisions |
| hereof shall be held invalid for any reason, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of any other |
| provisions herein. This act shall be construed in all respects so as to meet any constitutional |
| requirements in carrying out the purposes and provisions of this act, and all steps shall be taken |
| which are necessary to meet constitutional requirements. |
| SECTION 6. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC002756/SUB A |
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