Ryan Ray
The office of Republican Majority Leader Sen. Bill Galvano on Friday released a detailed outline of the schedule lawmakers will follow as they redraw Senate maps in accordance with a consent judgement wherein the chamber admitted it violated the state constitution during the decennial redistricting process in 2011.
A quick look at the schedule the majority leader wants Senate President Andy Gardiner to implement, per Galvano’s memo:
Monday, October 19
o 12:00 p.m. – Special Session convenes. Chair Simmons and I will be available to
o 15 minutes after adjournment – Special Order Calendar Group meets to place
o 2:00 p.m. – Concurrent meeting of the Senate Committee on Reapportionment address any questions concerning the process or a Senator’s conduct in the process. Senate Bill 2-C on the Special Order Calendar, if received, for Tuesday, October, 27. and the House Select Committee on Redistricting in 412 Knott. At this meeting, the map drawers will present the six base maps prepared by professional staff, and hear public testimony. This will be a workshop to allow members and the public to become educated on the six base maps. Senators not on the committee are invited to attend. To afford sufficient time for the presentation of the maps, I will request the Senate Rules be waived to allow the Senate Committee to continue meeting after 6:00 p.m., if necessary.
Wednesday, October 21
o 9:00 a.m. – The Senate Committee on Reapportionment will workshop the six remedial base maps. Senators and the public will be able to submit alternative maps and any testimony regarding those maps for consideration. There will be an opportunity for full discussion and debate on the merits of the alternative maps.
The committee will offer an opportunity for citizens to review and offer feedback regarding any proposed map before the map is finalized. It is my hope that at the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting, the committee will identify a preferred base map that would be converted into an amendment to incorporate the remedial Senate map into Senate Joint Resolution 2-C. Additionally, as was noted in the memo from professional staff, the district numbering included by the mapdrawers was intended to be a placeholder. It would be my intention that the remedial districts be renumbered in the amendment to Senate Joint Resolution 2-C based upon the highest commonality with the corresponding districts from the Enacted Senate Map.
Thursday, October 22
o 6:00 p.m. – Amendment deadline for amendments to be filed to Senate Bill 2-C for the Senate Reapportionment Committee meeting on October 23. Please give due consideration to the time it takes to draft, process, and file a redistricting plan as an amendment and allow members ample opportunity to review any proposed alternative maps.
Friday, October 23
o 9:00 a.m. – The Senate Committee on Reapportionment will meet to consider Senate Bill 2-C and any corresponding amendments. Senators and the public will be able to submit alternative maps and any testimony regarding those maps for consideration. There will be an opportunity for full discussion and debate on the merits of the alternative maps. The committee will offer an opportunity for citizens to review and offer feedback regarding any proposed map before the map is finalized. If the circumstances warrant, consideration of Senate Bill 2-C will be continued to Monday, to permit a full vetting of the map and any proposed amendments, subject to the will of the committee.
Monday, October 26
o 5:00 p.m. – Amendment deadline for bills on the Special Order Calendar to be
Tuesday, October 27
o 12:00 p.m. – The full Senate will convene to consider bills on the Special Order Calendar.
Galvano also specifies that according to the Florida Supreme Court’s directives, all meetings between two or more of the Governor, Senate President, Speaker of the House, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Redistricting or the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Reapportionment will be “noticed, open to the public, and recorded.”
The Majority Leader also emphasized the importance of retaining all incoming or outgoing emails and communications relating to redistricting. The high court chided legislators for their neglect to do so back in July.
