First Regular Session
Sixty-first General Assembly
LLS NO. R97@0803.01 RCL
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVE McPherson;
also SENATOR Wells.
JUDICIARY
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 97-1045
WHEREAS, In Sanchez v. State of Colorado,
97 F.3d 1303 (10th Cir. 1996), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Tenth Circuit held that House District 60 as currently configured
violates section 2 of the federal "Voting Rights Act",
42 U.S.C. '
1973; and
WHEREAS, The Court of Appeals remanded the Sanchez
case to the federal district court with directions to order the
State to implement a remedial plan of redistricting consistent
with its opinion and with said section 2; and
WHEREAS, The State of Colorado has filed a Petition
for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, but a decision
on that petition is not expected prior to the adjournment sine
die of the 1997 session of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, It is incumbent on the General Assembly
to adopt procedures for the redistricting process which will be
implemented in the event that certiorari is denied; and
WHEREAS, The appellate court's mandate to redraw
district boundaries in middecade, rather than following
a new federal census, presents unique circumstances; and
WHEREAS, Section 48 of article V of the state constitution
authorizes the convening of a reapportionment commission only
after each federal census, and said section provides that the
offices of commission members terminate after their plan is implemented;
and
WHEREAS, The Colorado Supreme Court in In re Interrogatories
Propounded by Senate Concerning House Bill 1078, 189 Colo.
1, 536 P.2d 308 (1975), noted that article V, section 48 reflects
the people's intent that there be no reapportionment between commissions;
and
WHEREAS, Since existing constitutional and statutory
provisions do not address the current circumstances of a courtordered
redistricting, the General Assembly must designate the most appropriate
method of redistricting; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly should assume responsibility
for drawing the remedial plan for House District 60 and surrounding
districts, since the General Assembly is directly responsible
to the people, the open meetings and open records laws will assure
maximum public participation and input into the process, and the
legislative process is best suited to take into account the interests
of the many persons who have a stake in the outcome of the courtordered
reapportionment; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly can complete a remedial
plan according to a schedule that allows the federal court to
review the remedial plan, enables county clerk and recorders to
make any necessary adjustments in precinct boundaries, and lets
potential candidates for the House of Representatives make decisions,
all prior to the beginning of the 1998 general election calendar;
now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
(1) That an interim committee shall be
appointed to recommend a remedial plan for House District 60 and
other affected House districts to the Second Regular Session of
the Sixtyfirst General Assembly.
(2) That the interim committee shall consist of four
members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, two members of the House of Representatives
appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives,
two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate,
and one member of the Senate appointed by the minority leader
of the Senate.
(3) That the remedial plan shall be drawn
in accordance with the opinion of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
in Sanchez v. State of Colorado, 97 F.3d 1303 (10th Cir.
1996).
(4) That the interim committee shall formulate a
preliminary plan, publicize and hold public hearings in the areas
of Colorado that are affected by the plan, and thereafter adopt
a final recommendation for the remedial plan.
(5) That the interim committee shall report
its recommended remedial plan to the Legislative Council no later
than November 15, 1997, in accordance with Joint Rule No. 24 (b)
(1) (D) of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives.
(6) That the remedial plan shall be introduced
and considered as a bill during the Second Regular Session of
the Sixtyfirst General Assembly no later than Friday, January
30, 1998.
(7) That all expenditures incurred by the interim committee directed by this Resolution shall be approved by the chairman of the Legislative Council and paid by vouchers and warrants drawn as provided by law from funds allocated to the Legislative Council from appropriations made by the General Assembly.