Community | Business and the State’s Political Districts

Chambers Urges Business to Comment on

Redrawing of State’s Political Districts

The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) is encouraging the Latino business community to get involved in the Citizens Redistricting Commission hearings preceding the redrawing of the state’s political district boundaries.

California's State Capitol

If adopted, the redrawn maps will be in place for the 2012 election cycle with the potential to have a huge impact on the fate of candidates for the next decade.

The commission has planned three rounds of statewide hearings to obtain community input before it releases draft maps of political districts on June 10.

The most important decision the commission will make will be prioritizing the sometimes competing requirements set out in state and federal law for how the districts should be drawn. The community’s testimony will help inform the commission’s decisions.

Hearing Process

The first round of hearings covers Assembly, Senate, Congressional and Board of Equalization districts. The second round of hearings will take place between June 16 and July 1.

A revised set of maps is to be released on July 7, and the final proposed maps will be released on July 28.

The commission must vote on the maps no later than August 15 and make the maps available for public review for 14 days before the final vote.

Schedule

The first four hearings were held April 9, 10, 13, and 26 in Redding, Marysville, San Luis Obispo and Hanford. The remaining meetings for April are:

• April 27 – Merced;

• April 27 – Long Beach;

• April 28 – Los Angeles;

• April 29 – San Gabriel Valley; and

• April 30 – San Fernando.

More Information

Additional dates and locations, a fact sheet and tips on preparing testimony are available at www.cahcc.com and go to government Relations/redistricting.