Florida Senate - 2022 SB 102
By Senator Rodrigues
27-01187-22 2022102__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act establishing the congressional districts of the
3 state; amending s. 8.0001, F.S.; adopting the United
4 States Decennial Census of 2020 as the official census
5 of the state for use in redistricting the state’s
6 congressional districts; defining terms; amending s.
7 8.0002, F.S.; redistricting the state’s congressional
8 districts in accordance with the United States
9 Decennial Census of 2020 (plan _____); amending s.
10 8.0111, F.S.; providing for the inclusion of unlisted
11 territory in contiguous districts in accordance with
12 figures from the United States Decennial Census of
13 2020; reenacting s. 8.031, F.S., relating to the
14 election of representatives to Congress; creating s.
15 8.051, F.S.; specifying that certain electronic maps
16 serve as the official maps of the congressional
17 districts of the state; providing for construction;
18 requiring such maps to be made available to the public
19 by the Office of Economic and Demographic Research
20 within a specified timeframe; reenacting s. 8.0611,
21 F.S., relating to severability; amending s. 8.07,
22 F.S.; providing for applicability; repealing ss. 8.08,
23 8.081, 8.082, 8.083, 8.084, 8.085, 8.086, 8.087, and
24 8.088, F.S.; deleting obsolete and superseded
25 provisions relating to congressional districts enacted
26 in Special Session A of the 2014 Legislature;
27 providing effective dates.
28
29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31 Section 1. Section 8.0001, Florida Statutes, is amended to
32 read:
33 (Substantial rewording of section. See
34 s. 8.0001, F.S., for present text.)
35 8.0001 Definitions.—In accordance with s. 8(a), Art. X of
36 the State Constitution, the United States Decennial Census of
37 2020 is the official census of the state for the purposes of
38 congressional redistricting.
39 (1) The following delineation of congressional districts
40 employs areas included within official county, tract, block
41 groups, and block boundary descriptions used by the United
42 States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, in
43 compiling the United States Decennial Census of 2020 in this
44 state. The populations within these census geographic units are
45 the population figures reported in the counts of the United
46 States Decennial Census of 2020 provided to the state in
47 accordance with Pub. L. No. 94-171.
48 (2) As used in this chapter, the term:
49 (a) “Block” describes the smallest geographic unit for
50 which population was tabulated in the 2020 decennial census.
51 Blocks are nested within tracts and within block groups. A block
52 is identified by a three-character number that is unique within
53 a block group.
54 (b) “Block equivalency file” describes a list of all blocks
55 within the state and the congressional district number
56 designated for each block. Blocks are listed by a 15-character
57 number that combines the five-character county-level Federal
58 Information Processing (FIPS) code, the six-character tract
59 number with leading zeros and an implied decimal, the single
60 character block group number, and the three-character block
61 number.
62 (c) “Block group” describes a cluster of blocks within the
63 same census tract. Block groups are nested within tracts, and
64 are uniquely identified by a single character number with a
65 valid range of 0 through 9.
66 (d) “County” describes a legal governmental subdivision of
67 the state. Boundaries of counties described in this chapter
68 reflect those boundaries in effect as of January 1, 2020.
69 (e) “Geographical information systems map” describes an
70 electronic map that represents the boundaries of the
71 congressional districts of the state in a commonly accepted and
72 readable format.
73 (f) “Tract” describes a relatively permanent statistical
74 subdivision of a county. Tracts are nested within counties, and
75 are uniquely identified by an up to four-character number and a
76 two-digit suffix.
77 Section 2. Section 8.0002, Florida Statutes, is amended to
78 read:
79 (Substantial rewording of section. See
80 s. 8.0002, F.S., for present text.)
81 8.0002 Division of state into congressional districts.—For
82 the election of representatives to the United States House of
83 Representatives, the state is divided into 28 consecutively
84 numbered, single-member congressional districts of contiguous
85 territory, to be designated by such numbers as follows:
86
87
88 Section 3. Section 8.0111, Florida Statutes, is amended to
89 read:
90 8.0111 Inclusion of unlisted territory in contiguous
91 districts.—Any portion of the state which is not stated in this
92 chapter as being included in any district described in this
93 chapter but which is entirely surrounded by a district shall be
94 deemed to be included within the surrounding district. Any
95 portion of the state which is not included in any district
96 described in this chapter and which is not entirely surrounded
97 by a district shall be included within that district contiguous
98 to such portion that contains the least population per
99 representative according to the United States Decennial Census
100 of 2020 2010; however, if every district contiguous to such
101 portion has an equal population, such portion shall be included
102 within the lowest-numbered district that is contiguous to such
103 portion.
104 Section 4. Section 8.031, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to
105 read:
106 8.031 Election of representatives to Congress.—The
107 districts named in s. 8.0002 constitute and form the
108 congressional districts of the state, and a representative to
109 the Congress shall be selected in and for each of the
110 congressional districts as provided by law.
111 Section 5. Effective upon becoming a law, section 8.051,
112 Florida Statutes, is created to read:
113 8.051 Electronic maps to serve as the official maps of
114 congressional districts; availability.—
115 (1) Geographical information systems maps and block
116 equivalency files representing the boundaries of congressional
117 districts described in this act shall serve as the official maps
118 of the congressional districts of the state. In the event of any
119 conflict between the descriptions of districts set forth in this
120 act, geographical information systems maps, or block equivalency
121 files, the descriptions in the block equivalency files shall
122 prevail.
123 (2) Within 10 days after the effective date of this act,
124 the geographical information systems maps and block equivalency
125 files representing the boundaries of the congressional districts
126 described in this act shall be made available to the public by
127 the Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
128 Section 6. Section 8.0611, Florida Statutes, is reenacted
129 to read:
130 8.0611 Severability.—If any provision of this chapter is
131 held invalid with respect to any person or circumstance, or if
132 any congressional district established in this chapter is held
133 invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
134 applications of the chapter or any other districts established
135 in this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid
136 provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this
137 chapter are severable.
138 Section 7. Effective upon becoming a law, section 8.07,
139 Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
140 8.07 Applicability.—The congressional districts prescribed
141 in s. 8.0002 apply with respect to the qualification,
142 nomination, and election to the office of representative to the
143 Congress of the United States in the primary and general
144 elections held in 2022 2012 and thereafter.
145 Section 8. Effective upon becoming a law, sections 8.08,
146 8.081, 8.082, 8.083, 8.084, 8.085, 8.086, 8.087, and 8.088,
147 Florida Statutes, are repealed.
148 Section 9. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
149 act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon
150 this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect upon the
151 expiration of the terms of the representatives to the United
152 States House of Representatives serving on the date that this
153 act becomes a law.