§ 5-b. (a) On or before February first of each year ending with a zero
and at any other time a court orders that congressional or state
legislative districts be amended, an independent redistricting
commission shall be established to determine the district lines for
congressional and state legislative offices. The independent
redistricting commission shall be composed of ten members, appointed as
follows:

(1) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the
senate;

(2) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;

(3) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
senate;

(4) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
assembly;

(5) two members shall be appointed by the eight members appointed
pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subdivision by a vote of
not less than five members in favor of such appointment, and these two
members shall not have been enrolled in the preceding five years in
either of the two political parties that contain the largest or second
largest number of enrolled voters within the state;

(6) one member shall be designated chair of the commission by a
majority of the members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (5)
of this subdivision to convene and preside over each meeting of the
commission.

(b) The members of the independent redistricting commission shall be
registered voters in this state. No member shall within the last three
years:

(1) be or have been a member of the New York state legislature or
United States Congress or a statewide elected official;

(2) be or have been a state officer or employee or legislative
employee as defined in section seventy-three of the public officers law;

(3) be or have been a registered lobbyist in New York state;

(4) be or have been a political party chairman, as defined in
paragraph (k) of subdivision one of section seventy-three of the public
officers law;

(5) be the spouse of a statewide elected official or of any member of
the United States Congress, or of the state legislature.

(c) To the extent practicable, the members of the independent
redistricting commission shall reflect the diversity of the residents of
this state with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, language, and
geographic residence and to the extent practicable the appointing
authorities shall consult with organizations devoted to protecting the
voting rights of minority and other voters concerning potential
appointees to the commission.

(d) Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled
within thirty days in the manner provided for in the original
appointments.

(e) The legislature shall provide by law for the compensation of the
members of the independent redistricting commission, including
compensation for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties.

(f) A minimum of five members of the independent redistricting
commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business
or the exercise of any power of such commission prior to the appointment
of the two commission members appointed pursuant to paragraph (5) of
subdivision (a) of this section, and a minimum of seven members shall
constitute a quorum after such members have been appointed, and no
exercise of any power of the independent redistricting commission shall
occur without the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the
members, provided that, in order to approve any redistricting plan and
implementing legislation, the following rules shall apply:

(1) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate are members of the same political party,
approval of a redistricting plan and implementing legislation by the
commission for submission to the legislature shall require the vote in
support of its approval by at least seven members including at least one
member appointed by each of the legislative leaders.

(2) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate are members of two different political parties,
approval of a redistricting plan by the commission for submission to the
legislature shall require the vote in support of its approval by at
least seven members including at least one member appointed by the
speaker of the assembly and one member appointed by the temporary
president of the senate.

(g) In the event that the commission is unable to obtain seven votes
to approve a redistricting plan on or before January first in the year
ending in two or as soon as practicable thereafter, the commission shall
submit to the legislature that redistricting plan and implementing
legislation that garnered the highest number of votes in support of its
approval by the commission with a record of the votes taken. In the
event that more than one plan received the same number of votes for
approval, and such number was higher than that for any other plan, then
the commission shall submit all plans that obtained such number of
votes. The legislature shall consider and vote upon such implementing
legislation in accordance with the voting rules set forth in subdivision
(b) of section four of this article.

(h) (1) The independent redistricting commission shall appoint two
co-executive directors by a majority vote of the commission in
accordance with the following procedure:

(i) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate are members of two different political parties,
the co-executive directors shall be approved by a majority of the
commission that includes at least one appointee by the speaker of the
assembly and at least one appointee by the temporary president of the
senate.

(ii) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate are members of the same political party, the
co-executive directors shall be approved by a majority of the commission
that includes at least one appointee by each of the legislative leaders.

(2) One of the co-executive directors shall be enrolled in the
political party with the highest number of enrolled members in the state
and one shall be enrolled in the political party with the second highest
number of enrolled members in the state. The co-executive directors
shall appoint such staff as are necessary to perform the commission's
duties, except that the commission shall review a staffing plan prepared
and provided by the co-executive directors which shall contain a list of
the various positions and the duties, qualifications, and salaries
associated with each position.

(3) In the event that the commission is unable to appoint one or both
of the co-executive directors within forty-five days of the
establishment of a quorum of seven commissioners, the following
procedure shall be followed:

(i) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate are members of two different political parties,
within ten days the speaker's appointees on the commission shall appoint
one co-executive director, and the temporary president's appointees on
the commission shall appoint the other co-executive director. Also
within ten days the minority leader of the assembly shall select a
co-deputy executive director, and the minority leader of the senate
shall select the other co-deputy executive director.

(ii) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
president of the senate are members of the same political party, within
ten days the speaker's and temporary president's appointees on the
commission shall together appoint one co-executive director, and the two
minority leaders' appointees on the commission shall together appoint
the other co-executive director.

(4) In the event of a vacancy in the offices of co-executive director
or co-deputy executive director, the position shall be filled within ten
days of its occurrence by the same appointing authority or authorities
that appointed his or her predecessor.

(i) The state budget shall include necessary appropriations for the
expenses of the independent redistricting commission, provide for
compensation and reimbursement of expenses for the members and staff of
the commission, assign to the commission any additional duties that the
legislature may deem necessary to the performance of the duties
stipulated in this article, and require other agencies and officials of
the state of New York and its political subdivisions to provide such
information and assistance as the commission may require to perform its
duties.