Statewide proposals

THREE STATEWIDE PROPOSALS will be on the ballot on Nov. 4.

PROPOSAL NO. 1 WOULD CHANGE the way election districts are drawn for the Legislature and for congressional seats every 10 years. The new process would begin with the 2020 Census. It would replace a much-criticized system in which the majority parties of the Senate and Assembly draw their own lines. The revised proposal would create a panel with members appointed by the majority and minority leaders in each chamber. The process would require a supermajority of appointees to approve plans, which would provide greater influence by minority-party appointees. If a court rejects the proposals, the Legislature would "correct any legal problems." A state judge has required the referendum to delete its claim that the proposal is "independent" because the Legislature still could reject the proposals and redraw the lines.

PROPOSAL NO. 2 WOULD ALLOW legislative bills to be voted upon when they are presented to lawmakers by computer, rather than on paper. The proposal would end the printing of thousands of legislative bills each year, which can each run hundreds of pages and must be printed for at least 213 lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly. Voters are asked to amend the state Constitution, which requires a bill to be "printed and upon the desks" of lawmakers for a vote. The proposal would allow the bill to be provided by "electronic means."

PROPOSAL NO. 3 IS THE "SMART SCHOOLS BOND ACT." Voters are asked to approve $2 billion in borrowing for schools to buy electronic whiteboards, computer servers, computers and tablet computers, to install high-speed Internet service for schools and their communities, to build classrooms to expand prekindergarten and to install high-tech security measures. The state borrowing is intended to narrow the computer gap between richer suburban schools and poorer urban and rural districts. The funds on a limited basis also would be provided to nonpublic schools through public school districts.