Joint Corporations Minutes

Draft Only

Approval Pending

of SUMMARY

P ROCEEDINGS J OINT CORPORATIONS, ELECTIONS & POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS COMMITTEE

COMM ITTEE M EETING I NFORMATION September 19, 2011

Sheridan County Courthouse Sheridan, Wyoming 5 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

COMM ITTEE M EM BERS PRESENT Senator Cale Case, Cochairman Representative Pete Illoway, Cochairman Senator John Hines Senator Marty Martin Senator Charlie Scott Representative Gregg Blikre Representative James Byrd Representative Allen Jaggi Representative Kendell Kroeker Representative John Patton Representative Jim Roscoe Representative Tim Stubson

COMM ITTEE M EMBERS NOT PRESENT Senator Wayne Johnson

LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE STAFF Matt Obrecht, Staff Attorney Matt Sackett, Research Manager

The Committee Meeting Summary of Proceedings (meeting minutes) is prepared by the Legislative Service Office (LSO) and is the official record of the proceedings of a legislative committee meeting. This document does not represent a transcript of the meeting; it is a digest of the meeting and provides a record of official actions taken by the Committee. All meeting materials and handouts provided to the Committee by the Legislative Service Office, public officials, lobbyists, and the public are on file at the Legislative Service Office and are part of the official record of the meeting. An index of these materials is provided at the end of this document and these materials are on file at the Legislative Service Office. For more information or to review meeting materials, please contact the Legislative Service Office at (307) 777-7881 or by e-mail at [email protected]. The Summary of Proceedings for each legislative committee meeting can be found on the Wyoming Legislature’s website at http://legisweb.state.wy.us. PAGE 2 OF 5

OTHERS PRESENT AT M EETING Senator Bruce Burns Representative Mike Madden Representative Elaine Harvey Representative Jonathan Botten

JOINT CORPORATIONS, ELECTIONS, & POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS COMMITTEE Summary of Proceedings

WYOMING LEGISLATIVE SERVICE OFFICE • 213 State Capitol • Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 TELEPHONE (307) 777-7881 • FAX 307-777-5466 • E-MAIL [email protected] • WEB SITE http://legisweb.state.wy.us PAGE 3 OF 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The committee met in Sheridan to hear testimony regarding redistricting based on the 2010 census.

CALL TO ORDER Co-Chairman Cale Case called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic.

REDISTRICTING

Matt Obrecht and Matt Sackett, LSO staff, provided a presentation on the principals of redistricting. The basic principle of redistricting is one person one vote. To achieve that goal, legislative districts should fall within a standard deviation of no more than 10%. Mr. Obrecht explained the concepts of communities of interest and the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. He noted that political gerrymandering is when one party draws districts that do not meet redistricting principals in order to keep that party in office. Mr. Obrecht explained the legal constructs of redistricting and the following dominant redistricting principals. Districts should be contiguous, compact and should follow recognized geographic boundaries. Census blocks are the smallest geographic entity and cannot be split in a redistricting plan. Voting districts are a collection of census blocks put together by the Census Bureau with the input of the county clerks. The Wyoming constitutional requirement that each county be a separate district has been held null and void in violation of the one man one vote concept. Nested districts are house districts which fall completely within one senate district. Multimember districts are districts where more than one legislator is elected at large in a particular area. While this is not per se unconstitutional, it is very suspect under previous court analysis.

Mr. Obrecht explained the following principles previously adopted by the Committee:

1. Election districts should be contiguous, compact and reflect a community of interest; 2. Population of election districts should be substantially equal, with the range of deviation not to exceed 10%; 3. To the greatest extent possible, in establishing election districts: a. County boundaries should be followed; b. The majority of the population of each county should be in one district; c. Census blocks should be followed; 4. The plan should avoid diluting voting power of minorities in violation of the Voting Rights Act; 5. The house shall have 60 seats and the senate shall have 30 seats; 6. Consideration should be given to two contiguous house districts in each senate district; and 7. Significant geographical features should be considered in establishing districts.

Mr. Sackett gave a presentation on how to navigate the link on the legislative website for private citizens to see the proposed plans and comment on them.

Chairmen Case asked Mr. Sackett to give the Committee members and others in attendance an overview of redistricting issues which may arise in Sheridan and Johnson counties. The two counties combined fall into almost the ideal population for two senate districts and four house districts.

COMMENTS ON LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING

JOINT CORPORATIONS, ELECTIONS, & POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS COMMITTEE Summary of Proceedings

Rep. Patton began the discussion on the plans that the Sheridan and Johnson County legislators had created. Story was moved from House District 40 into House District 51. Rep. Patton stated that the proposed Sheridan/Johnson County plan does not deviate substantially from the current districts and the legislators believed they adequately represented communities of interest in the two counties.

Rep. Madden discussed the effects of the proposed redistricting plan on his current legislative district, House District 40. Story is more economically and ideologically connected to the Sheridan area. Arvada and Clearmont are more oriented to Buffalo and Johnson County.

Senator Burns addressed the Committee to discuss the work of the Sheridan and Johnson County legislators in redistricting. Senator Burns stated that the legislators from Sheridan and Johnson County worked well together in developing the redistricting plans. Senator Burns would like it acknowledged on the website that the Sheridan/Johnson plan was sponsored by "all" of the legislators from Sheridan and Johnson County.

Sheridan County Clerk Eda Schunk Thompson and Mr. Sackett discussed the plan proposed by the Sheridan/Johnson County legislators. The proposed plan smoothed out legislative boundaries to conform to communities of interests and also to municipal boundaries. Besides Story's relocation to House District 29 there were not many substantial changes to the districts.

Rep. Botten stated that the plan eliminates some split ballots. Major changes were not proposed because the current legislative districts seemed to be working well.

Senator Scott discussed whether the proposed Sheridan/Johnson plan could be meshed with plans from the northeast corner of the state. 873 people from Campbell County may have to be moved into a Johnson County district, which it looks like the Sheridan/Johnson County proposal could accommodate.

Senator Burns stated that Johnson County had been in a district with Campbell County in the past and did not want to be included in such a district again. Speaking from a Sheridan County perspective, Senator Burns felt that the Sheridan/Johnson county legislators worked very well together.

Rep. Madden stated that based on the numbers, Campbell County deserved a fifth house district within its boundaries. Rep. Madden stated that outside of Campbell and Laramie Counties, the other counties in the eastern portion of the state could lose a representative and be within the proper deviation for the remaining districts.

Chairman Case questioned Rep. Harvey concerning the development of a consensus Bighorn Basin Plan. Rep. Harvey stated that she would make contact with the other legislators in the Bighorn Basin to get a plan finalized.

Dorie Noyes, Bighorn County Clerk has looked at the Frannie and Deaver areas for redistricting. Ms. Noyes is also concerned with splitting the number of special districts in the county. Ms. Noyes let the Committee know that the Bighorn Basin legislators and other elected officials in the Basin had been working diligently to develop redistricting plans. To date, no plans have been finalized, but some have been submitted to LSO to ensure that the proposed districts are within the proper deviations. Ms. Noyes believes a plan will be finalized soon.

JOINT CORPORATIONS, ELECTIONS, & POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS COMMITTEE Summary of Proceedings

Chairman Illoway emphasized that if the Bighorn Basin did not develop a plan themselves, they may not be satisfied with the plan that is ultimately developed. Mr. Sackett displayed the plan which the Bighorn Basin legislators have been working on.

MEETING ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Co-Chairman Cale Case adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cale Case, Co-Chairman Pete Illoway, Co-Chairman

JOINT CORPORATIONS, ELECTIONS, & POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS COMMITTEE Summary of Proceedings