SENATE STATE GOVERNMENT, WAGERING, TOURISM & HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 758

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

 

      The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 758.

     This bill provides that individuals who are incarcerated in the State are to be counted at the individual’s last known complete street address for legislative redistricting purposes.

     Under the bill, the State Department of Corrections is to collect and maintain an electronic record of the residential address of each individual entering its custody starting on the 30th day following the date of enactment of the bill.  At a minimum, this record would contain the last known complete street address of each such individual prior to incarceration, the individual’s race, whether the individual is of Hispanic or Latino origin, and whether the person is over the age of 18.  For the purposes of the bill, the classification of an individual’s race, ethnic origin, and age would be the same as used by the United States Bureau of the Census for the purposes of Pub.L.94-171 (13 U.S.C. s.141).  

     In each year in which the federal decennial census is taken and in which the Bureau of the Census enumerates incarcerated persons as residents of correctional facilities, the Department of Corrections must, by May 1 of that year, deliver to the Secretary of State:

     1)    a unique identifier, not including the name, for each incarcerated individual subject to the jurisdiction of the department on the date the bureau completes the federal decennial census for the State;

     2)    the street address of the correctional facility in which the individual was incarcerated at the time of the report;

     3)    the residential address of the individual prior to incarceration or alternative residential address, if known;

     4)    the individual's race, whether the individual is of Hispanic or Latino origin, and whether the individual is over the age of 18, if known; and

     5)    any additional information the secretary may deem necessary.

     The secretary is also to request of each agency that operates a federal facility in this State that incarcerates persons convicted of a criminal offense a report with the same information as required to be collected by the State Department of Corrections.

     For each individual included in a report required by the bill, the secretary is to determine the geographic units for which population counts are reported in the federal decennial census that contain the address of the facility in which the individual was incarcerated and the residential address of the individual.  If the individual’s residential address is known, the secretary is to:

     1)    re-allocate all relevant population counts to reflect the individual’s residential address on the date the federal decennial census for the State is completed; and

     2)    ensure that the individual is not represented in any applicable population counts reported in the census for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was incarcerated on the day the census for this State is completed.

     If the residential address of the individual is not known or not located in this State, the secretary is to:

     1)    re-allocate all relevant population counts reported in the census to reflect that the person resided at an unknown geographic location within the State on the day the census for this State is completed; and

     2)    ensure that the individual is not represented in any applicable population counts reported in the census for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was incarcerated on the day the census for this State is completed.

     When this is completed, the secretary is to report the data to the members of the Apportionment Commission, established pursuant to Article IV, Section III, paragraphs 1 through 3 of the New Jersey Constitution, not later than the seventh day after the Governor receives the census data required pursuant to federal law for this State from the Bureau of the Census.  The data prepared by the secretary under the bill, together with data provided by the bureau, is to be the basis of the legislative districts established by the Apportionment Commission.

     The bill also provides that to the greatest extent practicable, districts are to be drawn so as to meet equal population requirements calculated under both data sets.  Residences at unknown geographic locations within the State are not to be used to determine the ideal population of any set of districts or wards.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2018-2019 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.