00:00Is there a work into the bill with the fiscal cost of legal challenges?
00:05I'm sorry, say that one more time?
00:07Is there a work into the bill for legal challenges that I presume are going to show up left and right?
00:14Is there work in the bill?
00:15Is there a—when lawsuits happen, are we prepared for that with this ACL?
00:24We have a very robust Department of Justice that is prepared to defend new laws that are passed by the legislature, yes.
00:32The way that the districts are drawn, you know, it really worries me that it makes it possible for us to not just spend the $300 million to get this onto the ballot,
00:43but then to open up our communities and the state of California into more litigation.
00:49So when the lawsuits happen, and at the local county level as well, because they're split up, who's going to pay for that?
00:57Well, actually, a big distinction between these maps that were drawn in California
01:02and the maps that are currently being passed by the state of Texas, for example,
01:06are California's maps strictly abide by the Federal Voting Rights Act, which the Texas maps don't.
01:12And so we've actually put ourselves in a very good position to defend the maps that have been drawn
01:20because the Voting Rights Act and the principles of the Voting Rights Act were taken into very high consideration when those maps were drawn.
01:29Well, that's interesting.
01:30The statement that you made is that Texas did not follow that.
01:33Correct.
01:34Okay.
01:34It's bad.
01:35So does that mean that Texas has to redraw?
01:39It depends on what the courts do.
01:40I'm not a judge.
01:41Okay.
01:44Again, can we bring the conversation back to the merits of ACA 8?
01:48This bill is written specifically triggering if Texas redistricts.
01:52Right.
01:52So it's in the bill.
01:53The name Texas.
01:55So it's the question, if Texas's maps are thrown out, would this move forward?
02:02Is that the question?
02:03I can ask your legal counsel.
02:04I'll go ahead and ask.
02:05Legal counsel.
02:06But anyway, but so the question is, just so I understand the question, if Texas's maps are determined to be unconstitutional by the courts,
02:13then would California, would that trigger actually trigger for the ACA?
02:18I think that's the question.
02:19Well, it actually states if they get a court order, it doesn't trigger it.
02:23Well, so that was put in there, I believe, in regards to some other states, maybe Ohio, is it?
02:29Florida.
02:30Yeah, Florida.
02:31That has some different situations.
02:32For Texas, that's the legislature.
02:35There's no court.
02:36And I know you alluded earlier to the Federal Department of Justice.
02:39They're not a court, even though I know Trump wants them to be.
02:41And so that is not actually, when the DOJ sends a letter to Texas, that's not a court order.
02:47But if, I believe your question is, if the Texas maps are thrown out by the courts, would California,
02:54and no other state has passed a partisan gerrymander, would Californians move forward?
03:01Am I understanding just the crux of the question?
03:03Yes.
03:04Great.
03:04Do you have thoughts on that?
03:05So the way that, as you pointed out, the way that the trigger works in the measure is that it's only triggered if,
03:12or it would not be triggered if another state, including Texas, is forced to redistrict,
03:17is required to redistrict by a federal court order.
03:19So that's correct.
03:20So Texas decided to stop, and then they got a court order.
03:26We would put this on the ballot, spend $300 million, and then we couldn't even redistrict because of that work in.
03:33Assemblymember, I agree with you that I wish Texas wasn't doing this.
03:38And, you know, this was not on my bingo card a month ago when we broke for summer recess.
03:44But unfortunately, under the edict of President Trump, Texas Republicans are rushing through a partisan redistricting.
03:55There was a lawsuit in Pettyway v. Galveston County.
03:59In Texas?
04:00I mean, I just ask for the same common courtesy that you demanded.
04:04Thank you, sir.
04:04But there was a—
04:05And so, I'm sorry.
04:06Again, one person at a time, please.
04:09And so, when Trump demanded—I'm sorry.
04:12Let me get this straight.
04:13When Trump said out loud that he was entitled, entitled to five additional Republican congressional districts in Texas,
04:24which, for the record, is an insane thing for any president of the United States to think, let alone say out loud.
04:30But when he said that he was entitled to five more Republican congressional districts in Texas and all the Texas legislators immediately lined up to do whatever Trump wanted,
04:41that forced us to put this together, not because we want to, but because we have to.
04:48And that's why the trigger language is in—and that's why the trigger language is in the constitutional amendment that says if Texas backs down, which I really hope they do,
05:00if Texas backs down from their partisan gerrymander per the edict of Trump and his entitlements, then this will not go into effect.
05:12And that's exactly why that's there.
05:14And that's what I'm saying, is because of previous lawsuits like Pettivay v. Galveston County, which went through in Texas at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
05:25and is now sitting on the docket for the Supreme Court to weigh in on that happened in Texas, claiming that some of their districts were seen as unconstitutional,
05:36that if they receive a court order—and this is why it's important to me—if they receive a court order, because they back down and stop,
05:42then we in the state of California are about to spend $300 million to do nothing.
05:49And that's the part that is the issue.
05:51Okay, I think—all right, we have a point of order?
05:53We have a point of order.
05:53We have a point of order.
05:53We have a point of order.
05:53We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:54We have a point of order.
05:55We have a point of order.
05:55We have a point of order.
05:56We have a point of order.
05:57We have a point of order.
05:58We have a point of order.
05:59We have a point of order.
06:00We have a point of order.
06:01We have a point of order.
06:02We have a point of order.
06:03We have a point of order.
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