Agenda Item: 2
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
NEW BUSINESS
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: October 14, 2025
SUBJECT: PROPOSITION 50: THE ELECTION RIGGING RESPONSE ACT DEPARTMENT: City Manager's Office
PRESENTER: Masis Hagobian
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council discuss and provide direction to staff.
BACKGROUND
At the September 9, 2025, regular meeting, the City Council requested to agendize a discussion item on Proposition 50: The Election Rigging Response Act. Proposition 50 is a legislative constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 5, 2025, Special Election ballot. The ballot measure establishes new boundary lines for Congressional districts and would go into effect immediately. A simple majority is required for the ballot initiative to pass. The new boundary lines established by Proposition 50 would remain in effect until subsequent new boundary lines are adopted by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC), following the 2030 National Census.
Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 8, the legislative vehicle that established Proposition 50, was introduced by California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on August 18, 2025. On August 21, 2025, ACA 8 passed the Assembly and Senate, reaching the minimum two- thirds vote threshold in each chamber. Senator Suzette Valladares (R-14-Santa Clarita) opposed the legislation and Assembly Member Pilar Schiavo (D-52-Chatsworth) voted in support.
Following the passage of ACA 8, Senator Valladares was part of a group of Republican State Legislators that filed two lawsuits with the California Supreme Court, claiming that the process in passing the legislation violated the California Constitution. Both lawsuits were denied by the California Supreme Court.
Proposition 50 includes a legislative finding that the ballot measure is in direct response to the Texas State Legislature’s adoption of new Congressional district maps in Texas. Following a letter from the United States Department of Justice, citing four Congressional districts in Texas as discriminatory and unconstitutional, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called a Special Session to
address redistricting, among other issues. The Texas State Legislature passed the redistricting of Congressional districts at the end of August 2025 and Governor Abbott signed the new districts into law on August 29, 2025.
Currently, the City of Santa Clarita (City) is entirely in Congressional District 27, which also includes the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, in addition to the unincorporated areas of Acton, Agua Dulce, Castaic, and Stevenson Ranch.
Proposition 50 proposes to remove some communities in the City from Congressional District 27 and places those areas in Congressional District 30. Additionally, Congressional District 30 would encompass the unincorporated areas of Acton and Agua Dulce and all or parts of the cities of Burbank, Glendale, Los Angeles, and West Hollywood.
The unincorporated area of Castaic would be in Congressional District 26, which would be shared by the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Camarillo, Moorpark, Oxnard, Santa Paula, and Thousand Oaks.
State law establishes the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is required to adjust the boundary lines of Congressional, State Senate, State Assembly, and State Board of Equalization districts following the National Census at the beginning of each decade. In developing the new districts, the CCRC must follow a set of criteria, consistent with State law.
Included as part of the criteria, the CCRC must respect the boundaries of cities, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of interest, and minimize their division, to the extent possible.
A community of interest is defined as a contiguous population that shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Communities of interest shall not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
Following the 2020 National Census, the City Council adopted recommendations regarding the redistricting of Congressional districts. Adopted at the July 13, 2021, regular meeting, the recommendations advocated to the CCRC were to have the City of Santa Clarita and Santa Clarita Valley, including the communities of Acton, Agua Dulce, Castaic, and Stevenson Ranch, entirely within only one Congressional district. Additionally, the recommendations advocated that the Congressional district encompass communities of interest outside of the Santa Clarita Valley, including the Antelope Valley and northwest communities of the San Fernando Valley.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as directed by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact as a result of this item.
ATTACHMENTS
Current Congressional District 27
Proposed Congressional District 27
Proposed Congressional District 30
Proposition 50 Text