Brief(1)
S.C.R. 1601 proposes an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would require the Legislature to use the most recent federal census as the basis for legislative districts.
Currently, the Constitution requires adjustment of federal census figures prior to their use for redistricting. Those adjustments subtract nonresident students and military from the population totals and reallocate resident students and military to their permanent addresses.
If approved by two-thirds of each house of the Legislature, the proposal would be placed on the April 1999 ballot.
Background
The Redistricting Advisory Group introduced S.C.R. 1601 at the end of its work during the 1998 interim. The Advisory Group specifically did not take a position on the policy embodied in the resolution. The resolution is identical to 1997 H.C.R. 5005 which was recommended for adoption by the House Committee on Governmental Organization and Elections, but stricken from the House calendar.
In order for the proposal to be placed on the April election ballot, the resolution would have to be adopted by the Legislature in mid-February.
The current constitutional provision requiring use of adjusted U.S. Census figures for redistricting the Legislature was adopted by Kansas voters at the November 1988 election. Adjusted census figures were used for legislative redistricting for the first time in 1992, following the 1990 federal census. By statute, the Secretary of State gathers the information necessary and makes the calculations required to implement the constitutional requirement.
Senator Lana Oleen, the President of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Elections testified as proponents of the resolution. According to the Assistant Secretary of State, use of adjusted census figures has a negligible impact on the allocation of the population and the apportionment of legislative power. He noted that the state would avoid expenditures necessary to perform the adjustment if the resolution is adopted. Also, he testified that no other state adjusts the federal census figures for redistricting purposes.
No opponents testified before the Committee.
A formal fiscal note was not available at the time the Senate Committee took action. The Assistant Secretary of State informed the Committee that the cost of the adjustment in 1991 was $300,000. The cost of the 2001 adjustment is expected to be significantly higher.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.