Senate Bill S971

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S971

SPONSOR: GAUGHRAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the municipal home rule law, in relation to the division
of a county into districts for the apportionment of members of its local
legislative body

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To provide that no county shall supersede any state law which relates to
the division of any county into districts for the purposes of apportion-
ment

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one adds a new section 34 to the municipal home rule law by
adding a new subdivision 4 which provides that any plan of apportionment
adopted pursuant to a county charter or charter law relating to the
division of any county, except a county wholly contained within a city,
              

into districts for the purpose of the apportionment or reapportionment
of members of its local legislative body shall be subjected to federal
and state constitutional requirements and shall comply with the follow-
ing standards, which shall have priority in the order set forth in this
subdivision, to the extent applicable:

a. the plan shall provide substantially equal weight for all of the
residents of that county in the allocation of representation in the
local legislative body.

b. in such plan, no town except a town having more than one hundred ten
percent of a full ratio for each representative, shall be divided in the
formation or representative areas. Adjacent representation areas in the
same town or city shall not contain a greater excess in population than
five percent of a full ration for each representative.

c. the plan shall provide substantially fair and effective represen-
tation for the people of the county as organized in political parties.

d. representation areas shall be of convenient and contagious territory
in as compact form as practicable.

Section two sets the enactment date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Municipal Home Rule Law contains specific guidelines for county
redistricting. The guidelines, which spell out allowable deviations in
population equality among districts, direct counties to follow political
subdivision lines to the extent possible in the districting process.

The Westchester League of Women Voters challenged the 1991 bounty legis-
lative redistricting in State Supreme. Court on the ground that the
county redistricting that year ignored the State guidelines. The Court
ruled that Westchester was immune from the directives of the Municipal
Home Rule Law, a finding that was upheld in the Appellate Division. It
stated: "Westchester County operates under a charter form of government

and its reapportionment plans are adopted pursuant to its charter, not
Municipal Home Rule Law Sec 10(1)(a)(13) (a)."

The County League worked unsuccessfully for a Charter amendment that
would incorporate guidelines for protecting political subdivision lines,
subject to legal requirements for equal population districting. Statuto-
ry provisions for electoral procedures should be uniformly applied in
New York State. In the face of the County's failure to exercise its own
power to establish fair districting guidelines, the State should extend
the reach of the Municipal Home Rule Law guidelines on districting to
cover charter counties. This proposed amendment would extend generally
accepted standards for representation to all the people of New York.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: S.4611-A/A.426-B

2017-18: A.446 2015-16: A.1408

2013-14: A.501 2011-12: A.142

2009-10: A.782 2007-08: A.1017

2005-06: A.1773 2004: A.5008

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.