NUNEZ BACKS REDISTRICTING REFORM BILL WOULD GIVE REMAPPING POWERS TO INDEPENDENT PANEL.

Byline: STEVEN HARMON

MediaNews Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO -- Risking the wrath of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez introduced a bill Wednesday that would allow an independent commission to draw state legislative and congressional boundaries.

The Los Angeles Democrat also proposed that the Little Hoover Commission, a government watchdog group, take the map-drawing powers from the Legislature, and vowed to move quickly to pass the measure out of the Assembly -- with the ultimate goal of placing it on the Feb. 5, 2008, ballot.

Reversing himself, Nunez said he decided to include congressional boundaries to bolster the chances of voters approving the redistricting measure, co-authored by Assemblyman Curren Price, D-Inglewood, the chairman of the elections committee.

"At the end of the day, we need an initiative put before voters that will finally pass," Nunez said at a Capitol briefing. "It's going to fail again unless we find a way to ... get everybody to agree this is the right thing to do."

Nunez had previously said he wouldn't include congressional boundaries to avoid getting into an expensive battle with a well-funded opponent -- his own party. Congressional Democrats oppose allowing an independent body to draw congressional district lines, fearing they could lose seats -- and potentially control of Congress -- while Republican legislatures in states such as Texas and Georgia could continue to draw boundaries that protect their advantages.

Nunez said he hopes to convince Pelosi that the measure won't allow a "power grab" by Republicans.

"If it's good enough for the state Legislature," he said, "it ought to be good enough for Congress. ... But we do need to be smart about this."

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement, "We haven't seen all of the specifics of Speaker Nunez's proposal. However, Speaker Pelosi has made it clear she supports a national standard."

Republicans assailed the other key component of Nunez's proposal, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1, which would turn over the map-drawing powers to the Little Hoover Commission. The 45-year old commission has a reputation for producing blistering reports critiquing government inefficiency and service. But its appointees are political: Of the nine citizen members who would draw the maps, five are appointed by the governor and the rest by the Senate and Assembly.

"Turning redistricting powers over to a commission that is comprised of partisan political appointees, including former lawmakers and political insiders, will do nothing to restore a healthy democracy in California," said Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines, R-Fresno. "After reading their plan, I must ask the question: Why are Democrats fighting so hard to prevent hard-working citizens from drawing district lines?"

The criticism, said Nunez's spokesman Steve Maviglio, shows that Republicans just want to pick up more seats, rather than seek good government reform.

"Republicans don't want redistricting reform," he said, "they want a Tom DeLay remapping of the state for political gain."

[e-mail]

[phone]