DEMS' REDISTRICTING PLAN BASED ON POLITICAL PANEL.

Byline: David M. Drucker Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Senate Democrats plan to announce today their own reform plan for redistricting, which would retain their political control of the process of drawing legislative and congressional district boundaries.

According to a copy of the proposal obtained by the Daily News, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to transfer the Legislature's redistricting power to a nonpartisan panel of retired judges would be scrapped. That authority would instead be given to a commission of seven political appointees, four of whom would be chosen by legislative leaders.

Republican leaders said the administration was unlikely to accept the plan but acknowledged it could be a first step toward a compromise.

``Certainly, discussions are a positive thing and there might be a possibility for compromise,'' said Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, R- Irvine. ``But if you look at the language in the bill compared to what we saw before, I think it makes it worse in terms of something we would sign off on and the governor would sign off on.''

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who authored Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, is scheduled to unveil the proposal today. Common Cause, a national group based in Washington, D.C., which previously endorsed Schwarzenegger's redistricting plan, and the League of Women Voters are expected to lend their support to the bill - at least in principle, sources said.

Instead of nonpartisan judges, the redistricting commission would be appointed by the governor, the Senate president pro tem, the Assembly speaker, the minority leaders of both legislative houses, the California Judicial Council and the president of the University of California.

The Schwarzenegger administration was still reviewing the proposal. But Press Secretary Margita Thompson said it could be a positive development, although she noted that the governor is unlikely to support anything that chips away at the edges and does not constitute wholesale reform.

``When the governor looks at the proposal, it's with an eye toward finding a long-term solution to the state's structural problems,'' she said. ``Certainly, there has been a flurry of activity that would have been absent had there not been a special election.''

The measure also includes minor constitutional changes affecting the state budget. Specifically, members of the Assembly and Senate would be prohibited from adjourning for their summer recess prior to their houses passing a spending plan.

At least one of the three Republicans that Lowenthal was counting on for support - Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield - decided to pull his name from SCA 3 after reviewing the changes late Monday.

Lowenthal did not return phone calls. In an interview last week he said the Democratic leadership wanted SCA 3 to provide greater accountability to the Legislature.

David M. Drucker, [phone]

david.drucker(at)dailybulletin.com