SB488: Bill Text

Redistricting process

The bill requires the LRB to perform certain tasks in preparation for drawing legislative redistricting plans on the basis of each federal decennial census. For example, as soon as possible after receiving from the U.S. Bureau of the Census the population data needed for legislative redistricting, the LRB must use that data to assign a population figure to geographic or political units to facilitate the drawing of redistricting plans. Typically, this data is available on or about April 1 of the first year following the federal decennial census. The LRB must also prepare and publish an analysis describing the population of current legislative districts and the extent to which the districts may violate the redistricting standards described above. In addition, as municipalities complete their ward plans (typically, by October of the first year following the federal decennial census), the LRB must assign a population figure based upon certified federal census data to each municipal ward, for use in drawing redistricting plans.

Not later than January 1 of the second year following the federal decennial census, the LRB must deliver to the majority leader of the senate and speaker of the assembly identical bills embodying a plan of legislative districting, drawn in accordance with the standards described above. The bill further specifies a procedure that the legislature must follow in considering the bills, although that procedure is not enforceable by the courts. The bill requires either the assembly or the senate to bring the bill to a vote expeditiously, but not less than seven days after the report of the redistricting advisory commission is received and made available to the members of the legislature. The vote must be under a procedure or rule permitting no amendments except those of a purely corrective nature. If the bill is approved by the first house in which it is considered, the bill must expeditiously be brought to a vote in the second house under a similar procedure or rule.

If neither of the bills delivered by the LRB is approved by both the assembly and the senate, the chief clerk of the house that failed to approve the bill must transmit to the LRB information on why the plan was not approved by that house. The LRB must then prepare identical bills embodying a second plan of legislative redistricting, taking into account the reasons transmitted to the LRB by the legislature, or, if applicable, by the governor by veto message, insofar as it is possible to do so while complying with the standards described above. The LRB must deliver the bill to the majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the assembly no later than 21 days after the date of the vote by which the senate or the assembly failed to approve the bill initially submitted. This second bill must be expeditiously introduced and brought to a vote not less than seven days after the date of introduction, in the same manner as prescribed for the initial bill.

If the second bill is similarly rejected by at least one house, the same procedures apply to the preparation of subsequent bills, except that no plan may be considered after January 31 of the even-numbered year following the census. Under the bill, plans submitted to the legislature may only be passed by a bipartisan vote.

The bill also provides exceptions to this process to account for variations in the timing of the release of federal census data. In addition, notwithstanding other provisions in the bill, the bill authorizes the creation of a redistricting advisory commission after the effective date of the bill in order to prepare new plans on or before January 1, 2024.

Required contents of redistricting bills

The LRB must ensure that each bill embodying a redistricting plan it draws contains specified conventions to apply wherever territory in a plan is described by geographic boundaries. Also, each such bill must provide that the bill first applies, with respect to regular elections, to offices filled at the next occurring general election and, with respect to special or recall elections, to offices filled or contested on or after the date of the next occurring general election.

Challenge based on population inequality

If an action is brought challenging a legislative redistricting plan adopted under the procedure established in the bill on the basis of an excessive population variance among senate or assembly districts, the legislature has the burden of justifying any variance in excess of 1 percent between the population of a senate or assembly district and the applicable ideal district population.

SB488,,4 The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB488,1 Section 1. 3.002 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB488,,6 3.002 (2) Wherever territory is described by geographic boundaries, such boundaries follow the conventions set forth in s. 4.003 4.008 (1).

SB488,2 Section 2. Subchapter I of chapter 4 [precedes 4.001] of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

SB488,,8 CHAPTER 4

SB488,,9 SUBCHAPTER I

SB488,,11 GENERAL PROVISIONS AND REDISTRICTING

SB488,,12 4.001 Definitions. In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

SB488,,13 (1) “Block” has the meaning given in s. 5.02 (1q).

SB488,,14 (2) “Commission” means the redistricting advisory commission established under s. 13.49.

SB488,,15 (3) “Plan” means a plan for legislative reapportionment prepared under this subchapter.

SB488,,16 (4) “Political subdivision” means a city, town, village, or county within this state.

SB488,,17 (5) “Ward” means a municipal ward in effect on April 1 of the year of the federal decennial census and used in preparing plans as required under s. 4.005.

SB488,,18 4.002 Political subdivision boundaries. In this chapter, reference to any political subdivision means that political subdivision as its boundaries exist on April 1 of the year of the federal decennial census.

SB488,,19 4.003 Legislative districts established. This state is divided into 33 senate districts, each composed of 3 assembly districts. Each senate district may elect one member of the senate. Each assembly district may elect one representative to the assembly.

SB488,,20 4.004 Preparations for redistricting. (1) The legislative reference bureau shall acquire appropriate information, review and evaluate available facilities, and develop programs and procedures in preparation for drawing plans on the basis of each federal decennial census.

SB488,,21 (2) By December 1 of the year of the federal decennial census, the legislative reference bureau shall obtain from the U.S. bureau of the census information regarding geographic and political units in this state for which federal census population data has been gathered and will be tabulated. The legislative reference bureau shall use the information to do all of the following:

SB488,,22 (a) Prepare necessary descriptions of geographic and political units for which census data will be reported and that are suitable for use as components of legislative districts.

SB488,,23 (b) Prepare maps of geographic and political units within the state that may be used to illustrate the locations of district boundaries proposed in plans prepared in accordance with s. 4.007.

SB488,,24 (3) As soon as possible after receiving from the U.S. bureau of the census the population data needed for legislative redistricting that the U.S. bureau of the census is required to provide this state under P.L. 94-171, the legislative reference bureau shall use that data to assign a population figure to each geographic or political unit described under sub. (2). The legislative reference bureau shall prepare and publish an analysis describing the population of current legislative districts and the extent to which the districts may violate the standards under s. 4.007. Upon satisfying these requirements, the legislative reference bureau shall begin the preparation of plans as required under s. 4.006.

SB488,,25 4.005 Use of municipal ward plans. After receipt of a division ordinance or resolution under s. 5.15 (4) (b), the legislative reference bureau shall use the data obtained from the U.S. bureau of the census under s. 4.004 (3) to assign a population figure to each ward established in the division ordinance or resolution. The legislative reference bureau shall use each ward to which a population figure is assigned in preparing plans as required under s. 4.006.

SB488,,26 4.006 Preparation of redistricting plans. (1) Not later than January 1 of the 2nd year following the federal decennial census, the legislative reference bureau shall deliver to the majority leader of the senate and speaker of the assembly identical bills creating plans, prepared in accordance with s. 4.007. Either the assembly or the senate shall bring the bill to a vote expeditiously, but not less than 7 days after the commission report under s. 13.49 (3) (c) 2. is received and made available to the members of the legislature. The vote shall be under a procedure or rule permitting no amendments except those of a purely corrective nature. If the bill is approved by the first house in which it is considered, the bill shall expeditiously be brought to a vote in the 2nd house under a similar procedure or rule.

SB488,,27 (2) If neither of the bills delivered by the legislative reference bureau under sub. (1) is approved by both the assembly and the senate, the chief clerk of the house that failed to approve the bill shall immediately transmit to the legislative reference bureau information on why the plan was not approved by that house. The legislative reference bureau shall prepare identical bills embodying a 2nd plan prepared in accordance with s. 4.007, taking into account the reasons transmitted to the legislative reference bureau under this subsection or, if applicable, transmitted to the legislative reference bureau by the governor by veto message, insofar as it is possible to do so within the requirements of s. 4.007. The legislative reference bureau shall deliver the bills to the majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the assembly no later than 21 days after the date of the vote by which the senate or the assembly failed to approve the bill submitted under sub. (1). Any bill delivered by the legislative reference bureau under this subsection shall be expeditiously introduced and brought to a vote not less than 7 days after the date of introduction, in the same manner as prescribed for the bill required under sub. (1).

SB488,,28 (3) If neither of the bills delivered by the legislative reference bureau under sub. (2) is approved by both the assembly and the senate, the same procedure as prescribed by sub. (2) shall be followed. If a 3rd or subsequent plan is required under this subsection, the legislative reference bureau shall deliver the bills to the majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the assembly no later than 21 days after the date of the vote by which the senate or the assembly failed to approve the bill submitted under sub. (2). Any bill delivered by the legislative reference bureau under this subsection shall be expeditiously introduced and brought to a vote not less than 7 days after the date of introduction, in the same manner as prescribed for the bills required under subs. (1) and (2). No plan may be considered and voted on after January 31 of the 2nd year following the federal decennial census.

SB488,,29 (3m) A plan delivered under this section may only be passed by a bipartisan vote.

SB488,,30 (4) Notwithstanding subs. (1) to (3), if the population data for legislative redistricting that the U.S. bureau of the census is required to provide this state under P.L. 94-171 and, if used by the legislative reference bureau, the corresponding topologically integrated geographic encoding and referencing data file for that population data are not available to the legislative reference bureau on or before April 1 of the first year following the federal decennial census, the deadlines set forth in this section shall be extended by a number of days equal to the number of days after April 1 of the first year following the federal decennial census that the population data and the topologically integrated geographic encoding and referencing data file for legislative redistricting become available.

SB488,,31 4.007 Redistricting standards. (1) Legislative districts shall be established on the basis of population requirements imposed under the Wisconsin Constitution and the U.S. Constitution and requirements imposed under the federal Voting Rights Act and any other applicable federal law.

SB488,,32 (2) Senate and assembly districts, respectively, shall satisfy the population standards established in this subsection. The quotient, obtained by dividing the sum of the absolute values of the deviations of all district populations from the applicable ideal district population by the number of districts established, may not exceed 1 percent of the applicable ideal district population, unless necessary to maintain compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act or any other applicable federal law. For purposes of this subsection, the ideal district population is determined by dividing the population of the state reported in the most recent federal decennial census by the number of districts to be established.

SB488,,33 (3) District boundaries shall coincide with ward boundaries and, to the extent consistent with sub. (1), shall coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions. The number of political subdivisions divided among more than one district shall be as small as possible and all such divisions shall preserve communities of interest.

SB488,,34 (4) Districts shall be composed of convenient contiguous territory. Areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. A district containing detached portions of a municipality is legally contiguous even if the area around the detached portion of the municipality is part of a different district.

SB488,,35 (5) To the extent consistent with subs. (1) to (3), districts shall be compact in form. Compact districts are those that are square, rectangular, or hexagonal in shape to the extent permitted by natural or political boundaries. The compactness of a district shall be measured by its Reock score. For each district, the Reock score shall be calculated by taking the ratio of the area of the district to the area of the minimum circumscribing circle. The Reock score ranges from zero to 1, with zero indicating that the district is not compact and one indicating that the district is optimally compact.

SB488,,36 (6) In preparing any plan, the legislative reference bureau shall be strictly nonpartisan. No district may be drawn for the purpose of favoring a political party, incumbent legislator, or other person or group. In establishing districts, no use shall be made of any of the following data for the purpose of augmenting or diluting the voting strength of a language or racial minority group, except to the extent required under sub. (1):

SB488,,37 (a) The residence addresses of incumbent legislators.

SB488,,38 (b) Political affiliations of registered voters.

SB488,,39 (c) Previous election results.

SB488,,40 (d) Demographic information.

SB488,,41 (7) The number of assembly districts in any plan may not be less than 54 nor more than 100. The number of senate districts in any plan may not be more than one-third nor less than one-fourth of the number of assembly districts. Each senate district shall contain only whole assembly districts.

SB488,,42 4.008 Required provisions in redistricting bills. Each bill delivered under s. 4.006 shall provide all of the following:

SB488,,43 (1) That, wherever territory is described in the bill by geographic boundaries, the following conventions are used:

SB488,,44 (a) Each bound continues to the intersection with the bound next named, or to the intersection with a straight-line extension of such bound.

SB488,,45 (b) If the bound is a street, it follows the center line of the street or the center line of the street extended.

SB488,,46 (c) If the bound is a railroad right-of-way, it follows the center line of the railroad right-of-way.

SB488,,47 (d) If the bound is a river or stream, it follows the center of the main channel of such river or stream.

SB488,,48 (e) If the bound follows a municipal boundary, it coincides with such boundary.

SB488,,49 (2) That the bill first applies, with respect to regular elections, to offices filled at the next occurring general election after the bill takes effect and, with respect to special or recall elections, to offices filled or contested on or after the date of that general election.

SB488,,50 4.0085 Challenge based on population inequality; burden of proof. If an action is brought challenging a plan under this subchapter on the basis of an excessive population variance among senate or assembly districts established in the plan, the legislature has the burden of justifying any variance in excess of 1 percent between the population of a senate or assembly district and the applicable ideal district population, as described under s. 4.007 (2).

SB488,3 Section 3. 5.15 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB488,,52 5.15 (4) (a) Except as provided in par. (c), the division ordinance or resolution shall number all wards in the municipality with unique whole numbers in consecutive order, beginning with the number one, shall designate the polling place for each ward, and shall describe the boundaries of each ward consistent with the conventions set forth in s. 4.003 4.008 (1). The ordinance or resolution shall be accompanied by a list of the block numbers used by the U.S. bureau of the census that are wholly or partly contained within each ward, with any block numbers partly contained within a ward identified, and a map of the municipality which illustrates the revised ward boundaries. If the legislature, in an act redistricting legislative districts under article IV, section 3, of the constitution, or in redistricting congressional districts, establishes a district boundary within a municipality that does not coincide with the boundary of a ward established under the ordinance or resolution of the municipality, the municipal governing body shall, no later than April 10 of the 2nd year following the year of the federal decennial census on which the act is based, amend the ordinance or resolution to the extent required to effect the act. The amended ordinance or resolution shall designate the polling place for any ward that is created to effect the legislative act. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to compel a county or city to alter or redraw supervisory or aldermanic districts.

SB488,4 Section 4. 5.15 (4) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB488,,54 5.15 (4) (b) Within 5 days after adoption or enactment of an ordinance or resolution under this section or any amendment thereto, the municipal clerk shall transmit one copy of the ordinance or resolution or the amendment to the county clerk of each county in which the municipality is contained and one copy of the ordinance or resolution or the amendment to the legislative reference bureau, accompanied by the list and map specified in par. (a), together with a report confirming the boundaries of the municipality and of all wards in the municipality. Within 5 days after notice to the municipal clerk of a judgment that has the effect of changing the municipal boundaries, the clerk shall file the same report. The municipal clerk shall ensure that each copy of the ordinance or resolution or amendment and each accompanying report identify the name of the municipality and the county or counties in which it is located.

SB488,5 Section 5. 13.49 of the statutes is created to read:

SB488,,56 13.49 Redistricting advisory commission. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB488,,57 (a) “Chief election officer” means the chief election officer of the elections commission.

SB488,,58 (b) “Four selecting authorities” means all of the following:

SB488,,59 1. The majority leader of the senate.

SB488,,60 2. The minority leader of the senate.

SB488,,61 3. The speaker of the assembly.

SB488,,62 4. The minority leader of the assembly.

SB488,,63 (c) “Partisan public office” means any of the following:

SB488,,64 1. The office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state senator, or state representative to the assembly.

SB488,,65 2. A county office that is filled by an election process involving nomination and election of candidates on a partisan basis.

SB488,,66 (d) “Political party office” means an elective office in a political party, as defined in s. 5.02 (13), or in a national political party.

SB488,,67 (e) “Relative” means an individual who is related to the person in question as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister.

SB488,,68 (2) General provisions. (a) Not later than February 15 of the first year following the federal decennial census, a temporary redistricting advisory commission is created consisting of 5 members. Each of the 4 selecting authorities shall certify to the chief election officer the selecting authority’s appointment of an individual to serve on the commission. Within 30 days after the last selecting authority has certified his or her appointment, but not later than February 15 of the first year following the federal decennial census, the 4 commission members so appointed shall select, by a vote of at least 3 members, and certify to the chief election officer the 5th commission member, who shall serve as chairperson. No commission member may abstain from any vote taken by the commission on any matter before the commission, and no vote may be taken by the commission without all 5 members of the commission present and voting. The commission members shall, upon the legislative reference bureau’s recommendation, appoint a person with expertise in the federal Voting Rights Act to provide the commission guidance regarding federal Voting Rights Act compliance.

SB488,,69 (b) No individual may be appointed to the redistricting advisory commission who satisfies any of the following:

SB488,,70 1. The individual is not an eligible elector of this state at the time of the appointment.

SB488,,71 2. The individual holds partisan public office or political party office.

SB488,,72 3. The individual is a relative of or is employed by a member of the legislature or of Congress, or is employed directly by the legislature or Congress.

SB488,,73 (c) Members of the redistricting advisory commission appointed by a selecting authority shall be reimbursed from the appropriation account under s. 20.765 (1) (a) or (b), depending upon the house in which that member’s appointing authority holds office, for actual and necessary expenses incurred in performance of duties as a commission member. The member who is not appointed by a selecting authority shall be reimbursed from the appropriation under s. 20.765 (1) (a) for actual and necessary expenses incurred in performance of duties as a commission member.

SB488,,74 (d) A vacancy on the redistricting advisory commission shall be filled as provided in s. 17.20 (1) within 15 days after the vacancy occurs.

SB488,,75 (e) Each redistricting advisory commission terminates upon complying with sub. (3).

SB488,,76 (f) The legislative reference bureau shall provide assistance to the commission regarding the operations of the commission.

SB488,,77 (3) Duties. The redistricting advisory commission shall do all of the following:

SB488,,78 (a) If requested to do so by the legislative reference bureau, provide direction to the legislative reference bureau concerning any decision the legislative reference bureau must make in preparing a redistricting plan under subch. I of ch. 4 for which no clearly applicable standard is provided under s. 4.007.

SB488,,79 (b) Upon delivery by the legislative reference bureau of a bill embodying a redistricting plan as required under s. 4.006, make available to the public at the earliest feasible time all of the following information:

SB488,,80 1. Copies of the bill.

SB488,,81 2. Maps illustrating the plan.

SB488,,82 3. A summary of the standards prescribed under s. 4.007 for development of the plan.