2001 Committee/Commission Minutes

REAPPORTIONMENT COMMITTEE (APPROVED) MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2001 11:00 A.M. in Hearing Room 1E   I. The meeting was called to order at 11:10 a.m. by Speaker Moira K. Lyons. The following committee members were present: Senators: Kevin B. Sullivan 5; Louis C. DeLuca 32; Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. 17;  David J. Cappiello 24 Representatives: Moira K. Lyons 146; Robert M. Ward 86; Melody A. Currey 10; Arthur J. O’Neill 69 II. Approval of the April 26, 2001 Committee Meeting Minutes. Motion was made by Senator Sullivan and seconded by Representative Currey to approve the April 26, 2001 minutes. Approved by a unanimous voice vote. III. Number of State Legislative Districts Speaker Lyons stated that the committee should set a target date for submission of redistricting plans prepared by the public and agree on the number of House and Senate seats to have as a target for developing the committee’s plan and for the public to use in preparing theirs. The target number suggested for the House Districts is 151.  Representative Ward said he did not have a problem using that as a target but he did not think that was the most compelling thing before them. It is more important as a goal to redraw district lines to better respect town lines, create assembly districts using whole towns as much as possible, and fit districts within a town if two or more fit. Having 151 districts is a less important goal than the state constitutional requirements. We have to recognize the population shifts that have occurred and take proportionality into account. Speaker Lyons responded that all of Representative Ward’s concerns would be considered in preparing plans.  Senator DeLuca said they would be looking at a target of 36 for the Senate but should keep town lines intact as much as possible and minimize the number of towns that have to be split in order to make the districts comply with the population numbers. Senator Sullivan agreed with Senator DeLuca that 36 should be the target. Setting the target number will help the public when they submit alternatives. He also shares Senator DeLuca’s concerns about town splits. IV. Public Plan Submission Dan Duffy said the Reapportionment Committee has encouraged members of the public to offer proposals for its consideration, and urges plans to be as specific as possible. Members of the public should be aware that the committee must draw its district plans based on census geography. The guidelines considered by the committee are as follows: The plans should be submitted by August 31. Seven copies are requested if plans are submitted on paper. The paper size for hard copy maps should be 8.5” x 11” or 11” x 17”. In order for the committee to determine where the proposed district boundaries are located, hard copy maps should be accompanied by a text description of the districts based on the following census geography: towns, VTDs, tracts, and blocks. For electronic maps the Reapportionment Committee uses AutoBound, an extension of ArcView. The committee can read plans submitted in any format that ArcView could open or import. These include: AutoBound themes, ArcView shape files, ARC/INFO interchange files (.e00), ARC/INFO coverages, and Mapinfo Interchange format (MIF). Rep. O’Neill asked how the August 31 date for submission of plans by the public was arrived at. Dan Duffy responded that the reason for the August 31 target date was to give the committee members time to consider the proposal prior to the September 15th deadline for General Assembly action on a redistricting plan. The committee agreed to these guidelines without objection. V. Census Bureau: University of Hartford Students The Census Bureau assigned all of the University of Hartford students living on its Bloomfield Avenue Campus to a census block in West Hartford. This was an error. In fact, most students live in a census block in Hartford and some live in a different census block in West Hartford. Senator Sullivan asked if we were required to seek a correction from the Census Bureau only. Dan Duffy stated that the process for the Census Bureau to correct the error is too time consuming to be completed before our redistricting plan must be submitted. It would not begin until September. He said relevant case law indicates that the committee can make the changes as long as it is thoroughly documented and applied in a systematic manner. Senator Sullivan asked whether the case law standards differed for congressional redistricting. Duffy said that there are different population standards for congressional and state legislative districts. He will check whether the cases setting these standards, strict for congressional districts and substantial equality for legislative districts, discuss correcting known census errors. Senator Sullivan also stated that this census error was a repeat from 10 years ago and wondered why it was made again. Duffy responded that group quarters such as dorms are generally a problem for the Census Bureau. Senator Sullivan wanted to know if we were aware of any similar crossover of colleges in different towns. Duffy stated that we are not aware of any but he will research to see if there are other circumstances similar to the University of Hartford case. A motion was made by Senator Sullivan and seconded by Senator DeLuca that a correction be made to the census data to reflect 2545 University of Hartford students shifted from the Town of West Hartford to Hartford as indicated in the second paragraph of page 2 in Duffy’s June 19, 2001 report of the error to the committee. The motion was approved unanimously by a voice vote.  VI. Web page: census data  The committee decided without objection to have the state’s census data made available on the redistricting website. Senator DeLuca asked whether that data will include the mistaken University of Hartford population figures. Dan Duffy stated that it would but that the website would make note of the mistake and the correction the committee has made.  Speaker Lyons adjourned the meeting at 11:55 a.m.   _____________________________ Sandra Forte’

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