THE SAMUELSON AMENDMENT- A08876

The Samuelson amendment creates a Independent Redistricting Commission designed to be truly independent. The amendment incorporates original language from the original HB 722 and SB 22, the two bills most discussed and co-sponsored in this current session. It acknowledges and accommodates the concerns of the Legislature that they have some participation in the selection of members of the Commission while at the same time it is built on the essential mechanism ensuring that members of the commission must come from the citizenry and must be randomly selected to avoid the heavy hand of self-interested parties and incumbents.  

In addition to keeping the Legislature at arms-length from the redistricting process, the Samuelson amendment all but removes the Supreme Court from the process of selecting the maps in the case of the commission being unable to decide on a final map.  The amendment is the result of accommodation and compromise, it will produce a truly independent commission, and it is the best hope for taking redistricting out of the hands of self-interested politicians and into the hands of the citizens before the 2022 redistricting. 

Check out the language in the amendment here.