The reason to start the 60-day session in January rather than in March when the state lawmakers normally begin the session is to give state and federal officials time to review any changes made to the state and federal district lines, Negron said.
“This has been done in the last several reapportionment years, this is not unusual,” Negron said.
The state Attorney General has 15 days to review the plan followed by 30 days of review by the Florida Supreme Court, before it goes to the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure the changes meet civil rights requirements.
“We want to make sure with federal and state qualifying, which is June 18 through 22, that is a very compressed time frame, and if you end up with qualifying too late, it could create disorder in the election process,” Negron said.
The district lines are historically redrawn after the new numbers from U.S. Census, now underway, are released.
