I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3906 

To require States to carry out Congressional redistricting in accordance 

with plans developed by nonpartisan service agencies of the legislative 

branch of State governments, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa (for himself and Mr. LOEBSACK) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require States to carry out Congressional redistricting 

in accordance with plans developed by nonpartisan service agencies of the legislative branch of State governments, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fixing America’s In5 consistent Redistricting (FAIR) Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 

2 THROUGH PLAN OF NONPARTISAN SERVICE 

3 AGENCIES OF STATE LEGISLATURES. 

4 (a) USE OF NONPARTISAN PLAN.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other provision of law, any Congressional redistricting 

6 conducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 

7 with a redistricting plan— 

8 (1) developed by a nonpartisan agency of the 

9 legislative branch of the State government in accord10 ance with section 3; and 

11 (2) enacted into law by the State in accordance 

12 with section 4. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 

14 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 

15 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap16 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

17 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert19 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the Fixing America’s In20 consistent Redistricting (FAIR) Act’’. 

21 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF NON23 PARTISAN AGENCY OF STATE LEGISLATURE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than each Decem25 ber 31 of the year preceding a redistricting year, 

26 each State shall establish a nonpartisan agency in 


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1 the legislative branch of the State government to de2 velop the redistricting plan for the State for the re3 districting year. 

4 (2) NONPARTISANSHIP DESCRIBED.—For pur5 poses of this subsection, an agency shall be consid6 ered to be nonpartisan if under law the agency— 

7 (A) is required to provide services on a 

8 nonpartisan basis; 

9 (B) is required to maintain impartiality; 

10 and 

11 (C) is prohibited from advocating for the 

12 adoption or rejection of any proposal. 

13 (3) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING AGENCY.—At 

14 its option, a State may designate an existing agency 

15 in the legislative branch of its government to develop 

16 the redistricting plan for the State under this Act, 

17 so long as the agency meets the requirements for 

18 nonpartisanship under this subsection. 

19 (4) TERMINATION OF AGENCY SPECIFICALLY

20 ESTABLISHED FOR REDISTRICTING.—If a State does 

21 not designate an existing agency under paragraph 

22 (3) but instead establishes a new agency to serve as 

23 the nonpartisan agency under this section, the new 

24 agency shall terminate upon the enactment into law 

25 of the redistricting plan for the State. 


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1 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

2 (1) CRITERIA.—The nonpartisan agency estab3 lished or designated by a State under this section 

4 shall develop a redistricting plan for the State in ac5 cordance with the following criteria: 

6 (A) Adherence to the ‘‘one person, one 

7 vote’’ standard and other requirements imposed 

8 under the Constitution of the United States. 

9 (B) To the greatest extent mathematically 

10 possible, ensuring that the population of each 

11 Congressional district in the State does not 

12 vary by more than one percent from the popu13 lation of any other Congressional district in the 

14 State (as determined on the basis of the total 

15 count of persons of the most recent decennial 

16 census conducted by the Bureau of the Census). 

17 (C) Consistency with any applicable re18 quirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

19 and other Federal laws. 

20 (D) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 

21 (except to the extent necessary to include any 

22 area which is surrounded by a body of water). 

23 (E) To the greatest extent practicable, the 

24 maintenance of the geographic continuity of the 


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1 political subdivisions of the State which are in2 cluded in the same Congressional district. 

3 (F) To the greatest extent practicable, 

4 maintaining compact districts. 

5 (2) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER6 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 

7 State, the nonpartisan agency may not take into 

8 consideration any of the following factors, except to 

9 the extent necessary to comply with the Voting 

10 Rights Act of 1965: 

11 (A) The residence of incumbent Members 

12 of the House of Representatives in the State. 

13 (B) The voting history of the population of 

14 a Congressional district, except that the agency 

15 may take such history into consideration to the 

16 extent necessary to comply with any State law 

17 which requires the establishment of competitive 

18 Congressional districts. 

19 (C) The political party affiliation of the 

20 population of a district. 

21 (c) SUBMISSION OF PLAN TO LEGISLATURE AND

22 TEMPORARY REDISTRICTING ADVISORY COMMISSION.— 

23 Not later than April 1 of the redistricting year, the non24 partisan agency shall submit the redistricting plan devel25 oped under this section to the State legislature and to the 


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1 Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission of the leg2 islature established under section 4(a). 

3 SEC. 4. ENACTMENT OF PLAN BY STATE LEGISLATURE. 

4 (a) ROLE OF TEMPORARY REDISTRICTING ADVISORY

5 COMMISSION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 15 

7 of each redistricting year, each State shall appoint 

8 a commission to be known as the ‘‘Temporary Redis9 tricting Advisory Commission’’ (hereafter referred to 

10 as the ‘‘Commission’’), consisting of— 

11 (A) 2 members, of whom 1 shall be ap12 pointed by the majority leader of the upper 

13 house of the State legislature and 1 shall be ap14 pointed by the majority leader of the lower 

15 house of the State legislature (or, in the case of 

16 a State with a unicameral legislature, both of 

17 whom shall be appointed by the majority leader 

18 of the legislature); 

19 (B) 2 members, of whom 1 shall be ap20 pointed by the minority leader of the upper 

21 house of the State legislature and 1 shall be ap22 pointed by the minority leader of the lower 

23 house of the State legislature (or, in the case of 

24 a State with a unicameral legislature, both of 


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1 whom shall be appointed by the minority leader 

2 of the legislature); and 

3 (C) 1 member appointed by a majority vote 

4 of the members appointed under the previous 

5 subparagraphs. 

6 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is eligible 

7 to serve as a member of the Commission if the indi8 vidual meets each of the following requirements: 

9 (A) The individual is an eligible elector of 

10 the State at the time of appointment. 

11 (B) The individual does not hold a par12 tisan political office or serve as an officer of a 

13 political party. 

14 (C) The individual is not an employee or 

15 an immediate family member of a member of 

16 the State legislature or member of Congress, or 

17 an employee of the State legislature or Con18 gress. In this subparagraph, the term ‘‘imme19 diate family member’’ means, with respect to an 

20 individual, a father, mother, son, daughter, 

21 brother, sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or 

22 mother-in-law. 

23 (3) ASSISTANCE TO NONPARTISAN AGENCY.— 

24 At the request of the nonpartisan agency established 

25 or designated under section 3, the Commission shall 


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1 provide guidance to the agency in its development of 

2 the redistricting plan for the State. 

3 (4) REVIEW OF NONPARTISAN AGENCY PLAN.— 

4 (A) HEARINGS.—Upon receiving the redis5 tricting plan from the nonpartisan agency 

6 under section 3(c), the Commission shall ana7 lyze and review the plan, and shall hold at least 

8 3 public hearings in various geographic areas of 

9 the State to solicit comments on the plan. 

10 (B) REPORT TO LEGISLATURE.—Not later 

11 than 14 days after receiving the redistricting 

12 plan from the nonpartisan agency under section 

13 3, the Commission shall submit a report to the 

14 State legislature which includes the Commis15 sion’s recommendation regarding whether the 

16 legislature should adopt or reject the plan, tak17 ing into account any comments provided at the 

18 hearings held under subparagraph (A), as well 

19 as any other comments and conclusions regard20 ing the plan which the Commission considers 

21 appropriate. 

22 (5) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall ter23 minate upon the enactment into law of the redis24 tricting plan for the State. 


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1 (b) ACTION BY STATE LEGISLATURE AND CHIEF EX2 ECUTIVE TO ENACT PLAN.— 

3 (1) CONSIDERATION OF PLAN BY LEGISLA4 TURE.—Not later than 3 days after receiving the 

5 Commission’s report under subsection (a) on the re6 districting plan developed by the nonpartisan agen7 cy, the State legislature shall either— 

8 (A) approve the plan as submitted by the 

9 nonpartisan agency without amendment and 

10 forward the plan to the chief executive of the 

11 State; or 

12 (B) reject the plan. 

13 (2) ENACTMENT OF PLAN.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—A redistricting plan de15 veloped by the nonpartisan agency shall be con16 sidered to be enacted into law if the plan is for17 warded to the chief executive of the State pur18 suant to paragraph (1)(A) and— 

19 (i) the chief executive approves the 

20 plan as forwarded by the legislature with21 out amendment; or 

22 (ii) the chief executive vetoes the plan 

23 and the legislature overrides the veto in ac24 cordance with the applicable law of the 


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1 State, except that at no time may the plan 

2 be amended. 

3 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 

4 State in which the chief executive is prohibited 

5 under State law from acting on a redistricting 

6 plan, a redistricting plan developed by the non7 partisan agency shall be considered to be en8 acted into law if the State legislature approves 

9 the plan as submitted by the nonpartisan agen10 cy without amendment. 

11 (c) EFFECT OF REJECTION OF PLAN.— 

12 (1) REJECTION BY LEGISLATURE.—If the State 

13 legislature votes under subsection (b)(1) to reject the 

14 redistricting plan of the nonpartisan agency, not 

15 later than 7 days after the vote to reject the plan 

16 the legislature shall submit to the nonpartisan agen17 cy and disseminate publicly a statement of the legis18 lature’s reasons for rejecting the plan. 

19 (2) VETO BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE.—If the chief 

20 executive vetoes the redistricting plan of the non21 partisan agency and the State legislature fails to 

22 override the veto, not later than 7 days after the 

23 failed vote to override the veto the chief executive 

24 shall submit to the nonpartisan agency and dissemiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:50 Jan 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3906.IH H3906

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1 nate publicly a statement of the chief executive’s 

2 reasons for vetoing the plan. 

3 (3) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF RE4 VISED PLAN.—Not later than 35 days after receiving 

5 a statement from the State legislature under para6 graph (1) or a statement from the chief executive of 

7 the State under paragraph (2) (as the case may be), 

8 the nonpartisan agency established or designated 

9 under section 3 shall develop a revised redistricting 

10 plan for the State which is consistent with the cri11 teria set forth in section 3(b) but which addresses 

12 the reasons provided under paragraph (1) or para13 graph (2) (as the case may be) for the rejection of 

14 the plan, and shall submit the revised plan to the 

15 State legislature. 

16 (4) CONSIDERATION OF REVISED PLAN BY LEG17 ISLATURE.—Not later than 7 days after receiving 

18 the revised redistricting plan under paragraph (3), 

19 the State legislature shall either— 

20 (A) approve the revised plan as submitted 

21 by the nonpartisan agency without amendment 

22 and forward the plan to the chief executive of 

23 the State; or 

24 (B) reject the plan. 


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1 (5) ENACTMENT OF REVISED PLAN.—Sub2 section (b)(2) shall apply with respect to the enact3 ment of the revised plan developed and submitted by 

4 the nonpartisan agency under paragraph (3) in the 

5 same manner as such subsection applies with respect 

6 to the initial redistricting plan developed and sub7 mitted by the agency under such subsection. 

8 (d) EFFECT OF REJECTION OF REVISED PLAN; PER9 MITTING LEGISLATURE TO AMEND SECOND REVISED

10 PLAN.— 

11 (1) REJECTION BY LEGISLATURE.—If the State 

12 legislature votes under subsection (c)(4) to reject the 

13 revised redistricting plan of the nonpartisan agency, 

14 not later than 7 days after the vote to reject the 

15 plan the legislature shall submit to the nonpartisan 

16 agency and disseminate publicly a statement of the 

17 legislature’s reasons for rejecting the revised plan. 

18 (2) VETO BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE.—If the chief 

19 executive vetoes the revised redistricting plan of the 

20 nonpartisan agency and the State legislature fails to 

21 override the veto, not later than 7 days after the 

22 failed vote to override the veto the chief executive 

23 shall submit to the nonpartisan agency and dissemi24 nate publicly a statement of the chief executive’s 

25 reasons for vetoing the revised plan. 


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1 (3) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF SEC2 OND REVISED PLAN.—Not later than 35 days after 

3 receiving a statement from the State legislature 

4 under paragraph (1) or a statement from the chief 

5 executive of the State under paragraph (2) (as the 

6 case may be), the nonpartisan agency established or 

7 designated under section 3 shall develop a second re8 vised redistricting plan for the State which is con9 sistent with the criteria set forth in section 3(b) but 

10 which addresses the reasons provided under para11 graph (1) or paragraph (2) (as the case may be) for 

12 the rejection of the revised plan, and shall submit 

13 the second revised plan to the State legislature. 

14 (4) CONSIDERATION OF SECOND REVISED PLAN

15 BY LEGISLATURE.—Not later than 7 days after re16 ceiving the second revised redistricting plan under 

17 paragraph (3), the State legislature shall either— 

18 (A) approve the second revised plan as 

19 submitted by the nonpartisan agency with or 

20 without amendment and forward the plan to the 

21 chief executive of the State; or 

22 (B) reject the plan. 

23 (5) ENACTMENT OF SECOND REVISED PLAN.— 

24 Subsection (b)(2) shall apply with respect to the en25 actment of the second revised plan developed and 


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1 submitted by the nonpartisan agency under para2 graph (3) in the same manner as such subsection 

3 applies with respect to the initial redistricting plan 

4 developed and submitted by the agency under such 

5 subsection. 

6 (e) REJECTION OF SECOND REVISED PLAN.— 

7 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN BY HIGHEST

8 COURT OF STATE.—If the second revised redis9 tricting plan developed and submitted under sub10 section (d) is not enacted into law, the highest court 

11 of the State shall assume sole responsibility for the 

12 development and enactment of the redistricting plan 

13 for the State, and shall publish the plan it develops 

14 not later than November 15 of the redistricting year. 

15 (2) APPLICATION OF SAME CRITERIA USED BY

16 NONPARTISAN AGENCY.—Section 3(b) shall apply 

17 with respect to the development of the redistricting 

18 plan by a court under this subsection in the same 

19 manner as such section applies to the development 

20 of the plan by the nonpartisan agency under section 

21 3. 

22 (3) ENACTMENT UPON PUBLICATION.—Upon 

23 the publication by the highest court of the State of 

24 the redistricting plan under this subsection, the plan 

25 shall be deemed to be enacted into law. 


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1 SEC. 5. REDISTRICTING YEAR DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘redistricting year’’ means, with 

3 respect to a State, the year in which the chief executive 

4 officer of the State receives the notice from the Clerk of 

5 the House of Representatives under section 22(b) of the 

6 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and sub7 sequent decennial censuses and to provide for an appor8 tionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved June 

9 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the number of Representatives 

10 to which the State is entitled. 

11 SEC. 6. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL 

12 OFFICE. 

13 Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by 

14 this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which 

15 a State carries out elections for State or local office, in16 cluding the process by which a State establishes the dis17 tricts used in such elections. 

18 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

20 apply with respect to any Congressional redistricting 

21 which occurs after the regular decennial census conducted 

22 during 2020. 

Æ 


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