Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR133 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R12677 JRJ-F
2	2	By: Anchia H.J.R. No. 133
3	3
4	4
5	5	A JOINT RESOLUTION
6	6	proposing a constitutional amendment to establish certain
7	7	principles and procedures for the drawing of districts for the
8	8	Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the United
9	9	States House of Representatives.
10	10	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 26, Article III, Texas Constitution, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 26. The members of the House of Representatives shall
14	14	be apportioned among districts of contiguous territory [the several
15	15	counties, according to the number of population in each, as nearly
16	16	as may be,] on a ratio obtained by dividing the population of the
17	17	State, as ascertained by the most recent United States census, by
18	18	the number of members of which the House is composed[; provided,
19	19	that whenever a single county has sufficient population to be
20	20	entitled to a Representative, such county shall be formed into a
21	21	separate Representative District, and when two or more counties are
22	22	required to make up the ratio of representation, such counties
23	23	shall be contiguous to each other; and when any one county has more
24	24	than sufficient population to be entitled to one or more
25	25	Representatives, such Representative or Representatives shall be
26	26	apportioned to such county, and for any surplus of population it may
27	27	be joined in a Representative District with any other contiguous
28	28	county or counties].
29	29	SECTION 2. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by
30	30	adding Section 28a to read as follows:
31	31	Sec. 28a. (a) The legislature's authority established
32	32	under Section 1 of this article includes the authority to adopt
33	33	redistricting plans for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas
34	34	House of Representatives, and the members of the United States
35	35	House of Representatives elected from this state after the
36	36	publication of each United States decennial census.
37	37	(b) A plan for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas
38	38	House of Representatives, and the members of the United States
39	39	House of Representatives elected from this state adopted by the
40	40	legislature must conform to the following principles:
41	41	1. A plan shall respect the integrity of the state's basic
42	42	geographic regions to the extent practicable.
43	43	2. A plan shall avoid unnecessarily dividing counties and
44	44	municipalities in the formation of districts. District lines shall
45	45	to the extent practicable be coterminous with the boundaries of
46	46	these political subdivisions.
47	47	3. A plan shall to the extent practicable keep intact
48	48	communities of interest defined by social, economic, racial,
49	49	ethnic, cultural, industrial, commercial, and geographic
50	50	commonalities.
51	51	4. A district shall be composed solely of undivided census
52	52	tracts as the smallest unit of redistricting.
53	53	5. A district shall be geographically compact and composed
54	54	of convenient contiguous territory.
55	55	6. A plan may not be drawn with consideration to partisan
56	56	political effect or with intent to favor or disfavor any specific
57	57	person, political party, or other organization.
58	58	7. A plan must comply with state and federal constitutional
59	59	and statutory requirements, including the federal Voting Rights Act
60	60	of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.).
61	61	8. The districts in a plan must be equal in population as
62	62	nearly as practicable in accordance with the other principles
63	63	described by this subsection.
64	64	9. In addition to the requirements of federal law, districts
65	65	must be drawn in a manner that does not discriminate on the basis of
66	66	race, color, or membership in a language minority group by ensuring
67	67	the voting strength of racial, ethnic, and language minorities in
68	68	the districts is not diluted in a manner that deprives minority
69	69	voters of an equal opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
70	70	(c) The Supreme Court of Texas has original jurisdiction of
71	71	a legal challenge to a plan enacted by the legislature.
72	72	(d) The legislature may not redistrict this state's
73	73	districts adopted for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas
74	74	House of Representatives, and the members of the United States
75	75	House of Representatives elected from this state more than once
76	76	following each census except to replace a plan ordered by a court
77	77	with a plan enacted by the legislature.
78	78	SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
79	79	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 3, 2015.
80	80	The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the
81	81	proposition: "The constitutional amendment to establish certain
82	82	principles and procedures for the drawing of districts for the
83	83	Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the United
84	84	States House of Representatives."