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WCVI and MALDEF Submit Congressional Redistricting Plan to State Senate Committee on Elections and Reapportionment

Los Angeles, CA - The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) unveiled today, their redistricting plan to the California Senate Committee on Elections and Reapportionment during a hearing scheduled at the Ronald Reagan State Building Auditorium. During the hearing, the third of five public state hearings, representatives from both organizations presented their redistricting plans for the California congressional districts mirroring the rapid population growth among Latino communities in the state.

In 2000, 27.1 million or 76.8 percent, of Hispanics lived in the seven states with Hispanic populations of 1.0 million or more, with California being the largest with a population of 11.0 million or (31.1 percent) of the total Hispanic population in the country. Currently there are 4.2 million Hispanics living in Los Angeles County. "This unprecedented growth of Latinos must be reflected in the redistricting plans approved at the local, state and federal level. Nothing less than fair representations of all our Latino communities at all those levels is unacceptable", noted Antonio González, President of the William C. Velásquez Institute. The plan unveiled by (WCVI) and (MALDEF) was carefully crafted after months of community outreach efforts, to ensure a reapportionment process that is inclusive of the rapid growth of Latino communities.

The plan, creates one new district, and opens the possibility for new Latino representation in other areas in the Coachella and Central Valleys, in Monterey County and in San Diego. WCVI along with MALDEF have been working extensively in Latino communities that will be making redistricting adjustments including California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Idaho. The extensive community efforts have produced redistricting plans where Latino communities with significant demographic changes stand to gain in adjusting the local and state political jurisdictions.

The hearing is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Auditorium located at 300 S. Spring Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. Representatives from WCVI and MALDEF will be available to the press after the hearing for an impromptu question and answer session.

The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a non-partisan Latino public policy and research institute that examines the Latino electorate and opinion trends. Since its founding in 1985, WCVI has been at the forefront of Latino research in the areas of civic and economic empowerment. For more information, please refer to the website at www.wcvi.org.