Senate Bill 25-393

SENATE:

• Mark Cho

• Virgil Murillo

• Benny Harrison

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

• Celia Simmons

• Emma Johnston

• Lewis Yates

• Laurie Roberts

• Jeannette Murphy

• Julia Willis

• Adrian Gonzales

To amend Sections 9 of Article V of the Constitution of the State of San Andreas, relating to legislative representation; to establish a new apportionment formula and a maximum membership for the General Assembly; and to provide for a special apportionment rule for counties of significant population.

The People of the State of San Andreas do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.

The Legislature finds and declares that the current standard of representation in the House of Representatives, one representative for every five thousand (5,000) inhabitants, risks creating a legislative body that is too large to operate effectively and efficiently, particularly in counties of immense population such as Los Santos. A legislature of excessive size can hinder deliberation, increase administrative costs, and dilute individual accountability. It is the intent of the Legislature in proposing this amendment to preserve the principle of proportional representation while ensuring the General Assembly remains a functional and deliberative body capable of serving the best interests of all citizens of San Andreas. This amendment establishes a rational and scalable formula for representation and a firm cap on the total number of legislators.

SECTION 2. PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

Subsections (b), (c), and (e) of Section 9, Article V of the Constitution of the State of San Andreas are hereby repealed and amended to read as follows:

ARTICLE V: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

SECTION 9: REPRESENTATION

(b) The House of Representatives shall be constituted as a chamber of proportional representation. One Representative shall be elected for every five thousand (5,000) inhabitants residing within an assembly district, as determined by the most recent census authorized by law. Each district shall be drawn in a contiguous and compact manner, and the apportionment of representatives shall reflect, as nearly as practicable, the principle of one person, one vote, so that the will of the people may be fairly expressed in the lower chamber of the General Assembly. Provided, however, that for any single county with a population exceeding two million (2,000,000) inhabitants, representation for that county shall be apportioned at a ratio of one (1) Representative per one million (1,000,000) inhabitants.

(c) The number of Representatives in the House shall be recalculated and adjusted every ten (10) years, coinciding with the completion of the decennial census, in order to account for changes in population and to preserve the equitable distribution of representation. Such reapportionment shall be conducted in the year following the census, and the revised composition of the House shall take effect with the subsequent coordinated election in an odd-numbered year. 

(e) The total membership of the General Assembly, composed of both Senators and Representatives, shall not exceed two hundred (200) members. Upon the expiration of the prior cap of two hundred fifty-five (255) members, this new cap shall take immediate effect. Any expansion shall remain consistent with the principles of equal and proportional representation as herein established.

SEVERABILITY.

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this amendment is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this amendment.

MANDATORY PETITION OF REFERENDUM: Pursuant to Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution of the State of San Andreas, all legislation concerning elections, education, and the state treasury may not be enacted by the General Assembly without direct approval of the electorate. Such measures must be submitted to the voters at the November general election. Furthermore, amendments to the Constitution require approval by at least 55 percent of qualified electors. As this bill proposes constitutional changes relating to elections, it shall be submitted to the people of San Andreas at the 2025 Coordinated Election, appearing on the ballot as AMENDMENT A. The amendment shall be adopted only upon receiving the approval of no less than 55 percent of the votes cast. 

Bill Text