Outreach For Public Participation

Late 2010, staff of the House Redistricting Committee began contacting numerous organizations about MyDistrictBuilder and other opportunities to participate in Florida’s 2011-2012 redistricting process. 

Organizations contacted included:

• Florida’s 67 county supervisors of election
• Florida’s 67 county commissions
• Dozens of municipal commissions and councils
• Colleges & universities
• Civic organizations
• Civil rights organizations
• and many others

If you would like the House Redistricting Committee to help get your group – or an organization that you know of – involved in the redistricting process, email the Committee’s staff at mydistrictbuilder@myfloridahouse.gov or call (850) 488-3928.  Even if you just need assistance in how to get information about public meetings, MyDistrictBuilder and other resources to your organization, the team is happy to help!

The document below lists the groups contacted thus far.  Currently, staff are reaching out to these organizations a second time about the public meeting calendar.  Now is a great time to add new names to this list, so that your organization has the latest details on this summer’s public meetings.

Filed under: MyDistrictBuilder, Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, 2012, civic, civil right, college, commission, committee, council, election, engagement, florida, house, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, supervisor, transparency, universities

Redistricting Public Meetings Announced

Friday, May 6, 2011 – The House Redistricting Committee and Senate Committee on Reapportionment held a joint committee meeting on the House Chamber Floor.  The meeting served as an announcement of the scheduled dates for public meetings on redistricting – to be held this summer – throughout Florida.  Click here for video highlights.

The public meetings will serve as one of the primary tools for Florida’s diverse communities to present their suggestions for Florida’s new state legislative and congressional district boundary lines. 

Today’s announcement highlighted meetings from June 20-22 in Tallahassee, Milton, Fort Walton, and Panama City – and – meetings from July 11-13 in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, The Villages and Gainesville.  Additionally, meetings will soon be announced for Central Florida (July 25-28), Southeast Florida (tentatively August 15-18) and Southwest Florida (tentatively August 29-September 1).  Click here to watch the full meeting.

As meeting information is updated, www.floridaredistricting.org will always contain the latest and greatest calendar news.

Filed under: Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, cannon, census, committee, committee meetings, district, florida, florida channel, house, legislative, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, senate, subcommittee, transparency

Redistricting Committee Updates

The Redistricting Committee met today to drill down further into Florida’s redistricting process.  The Committee first heard remarks regarding:

• The jurisdiction of the Committee and the subcommittees, and the responsibilities of Committee members;
• Opportunities for public input and participation in the redistricting process; and
• House rules and procedures for redistricting.

Additionally, the Committee heard testimony from the House’s special counsel for reapportionment, regarding Florida’s state constitutional provisions on redistricting.  Specifically, counsel helped the Committee members examine the recently approved Amendments 5 and 6 (Article III, Sections 21 and 20 of the Florida Constitution).

The Committee also got a tour of the beta version of the MyDistrictBuilder application.  Throughout the week, each of the redistricting subcommittees will also hear the same presentations in their respective meetings.

Filed under: Data & Code, MyDistrictBuilder, On the Web, Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, 2012, amendment, census, committee, committee meetings, constitution, data grid, deviation, district, doj, florida channel, house, mydistrictbuilder, open government, procedures, public participation, redistricting, subcommittee

FloridaRedistricting.Org: From Home Page to Front Page

With committee meetings underway, and public submissions of redistricting plans and public meetings throughout the State about to begin in the next couple months – www.floridaredistricting.org, the home page of our outreach, is going from home page to front page over the next few weeks.

The main portal to MyDistrictBuilder, current events, meeting information and public participation resources will still be www.floridaredistricting.org. 

But this operation is about to become very information heavy, from public meeting records to redistricting plan submissions to lots of data and resources.  Therefore, our WordPress pages will capture the full extent of that content.

Filed under: Data & Code, MyDistrictBuilder, On the Web, Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, committee meetings, data grid, district, florida, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, resources, transparency

Special Amendment Deadlines and Procedures Approved

***Update from a previous story…***

The Florida House of Representatives approved special amendment deadlines and procedures for amendments to redistricting plans in committees.  The amendment deadlines and procedures were approved by unanimous voice vote on the Floor of the House. 

For more information about the special amendment deadlines and procedures, see below, or visit the previous story at: https://mydistrictbuilder.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/proposed-special-amendment-deadlines-and-procedures/

Filed under: Public Meetings, 2011, 2012, amendment, committee, committee meetings, deadline, floor, florida, house, legislative, procedures, redistricting, rules, session, subcommittee

What’s on the Agenda for April 20-21?

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – The agenda for the joint meeting of the Florida House’s Redistricting Committee and Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee will serve two introductory purposes for the newly appointed members of the committees.

The presentations should help provide the committee members with a foundation for the many redistricting decisions to come.  Moreover, the presentations will help set the stage for committee meetings in weeks 8 and 9 of the 2011 Legislative Session, in which the committees drill down further into Florida law, the ways in which the public can participate, and how to use MyDistrictBuilder.

First, former Florida House member (1989-1994) Miguel De Grandy, now serving as counsel to the House on reapportionment and redistricting matters, will provide the Members with a redistricting legal 101.

Second, Amy Baker, staff director for the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research (EDR), will give the committee members a view of Florida’s new demographic portrait, based on the results of the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey.

Thursday’s joint meeting of the House Redistricting Subcommittee and Senate Redistricting Subcommittee will consider the same agenda and presentations.

Filed under: Public Meetings, 2011, african-american, apportion, black, census, committee, constitution, data grid, de grandy, demographic, district, florida, hispanic, house, mydistrictbuilder, redistricting, subcommittee, voting rights act

Proposed Special Amendment Deadlines and Procedures

Friday, April 15 – The Florida House of Representatives’ Rules & Calendar Committee approved proposed special amendment deadlines and procedures for amendments to redistricting plans in committees.  The amendment deadlines and procedures were approved by unanimous voice vote of the Members of the Rules & Calendar Committee.  The proposal must now be approved by the full House on April 20.

The committee-level deadlines and procedures for redistricting amendments (see below) will require amendments to redistricting plans to be submitted by noon, three business days prior to consideration.  Substitute Amendments must be filed by noon, two business days prior to consideration. 

The ability to enact special amendment deadlines and procedures is necessary for highly technical issues like appropriations and redistricting, giving Members and staff time to prepare all the necessary information for consideration of the amendments, giving Members dedicated time to submit substitute amendments, and affording both the Members and the Public adequate time to review and react.

Filed under: Public Meetings, 2011, 2012, amendment, committee, deadline, floor, florida, house, legislative, procedures, redistricting, rules, session, subcommittee

Speaker Cannon’s Update on Committee Appointments

From an April 15, 2011 memorandum to all Members of the Florida House of Representatives, title “Update on Appointments…

…”The Redistricting Committee, the House Redistricting Subcommittee, the Senate Redistricting Subcommittee and the Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee will have their first meetings on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.  The vice chair of the Redistricting Committee, the chairs and vice chairs of the subcommittees, and the membership of the committee and the subcommittees will be announced by Monday, April 18.”

Filed under: Public Meetings, 2011, cannon, committee, congress, district, florida, house, legislative, redistricting, senate, session, subcommittee

Florida House Calendars First Redistricting Committee Meetings

April 13 – The Florida House of Representatives released its Calendar for Week 7 of the 2011 Legislative Session.  The House Redistricting Committee and its three subcommittees will hold their first meetings April 20 and 21.

The three subcommittees are the House Redistricting Subcommittee, the Senate Redistricting Subcommittee and the Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee — named for the specific district maps under their jurisdication.

April 20, the Redistricting Committee and the Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee will meet jointly, 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM, in 212 Knott Building of the Capitol complex.  April 21, the House Redistricting Subcommittee and the Senate Redistricting Subcommittee will meet jointly, same time, same location.

Filed under: Public Meetings, 2011, cannon, committee, congress, district, florida, house, legislative, mydistrictbuilder, redistricting, senate, session, speaker, subcommittee