Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR32 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R2551 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Howard H.J.R. No. 32
3	3
4	4
5	5	A JOINT RESOLUTION
6	6	proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas
7	7	Redistricting Commission to redistrict the Texas Legislature and
8	8	Texas congressional districts and revising procedures for
9	9	redistricting.
10	10	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by
12	12	adding Section 28a to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 28a. (a) The Texas Redistricting Commission exercises
14	14	the legislative authority of this state to adopt redistricting
15	15	plans for the election of the Texas House of Representatives, the
16	16	Texas Senate, and the members of the United States House of
17	17	Representatives elected from this state. Districts for those
18	18	legislative bodies may not be established or changed except as
19	19	provided by this section.
20	20	(b) The commission consists of seven members selected as
21	21	follows:
22	22	(1) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
23	23	Senate with the most seniority, as defined by senate rules;
24	24	(2) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
25	25	Senate with the most seniority, as defined by senate rules, who is
26	26	of a different political party than the member described by
27	27	Subdivision (1) of this subsection;
28	28	(3) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
29	29	House of Representatives with the most seniority, as defined by
30	30	house rules;
31	31	(4) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
32	32	House of Representatives with the most seniority, as defined by
33	33	house rules, who is of a different political party than the member
34	34	described by Subdivision (3) of this subsection;
35	35	(5) one member appointed by an affirmative vote of not
36	36	fewer than three of the members of the commission selected under
37	37	Subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection; and
38	38	(6) two members appointed by the member appointed
39	39	under Subdivision (5) of this subsection, who must be retired
40	40	federal judges appointed to the federal bench by presidents of
41	41	different political parties.
42	42	(c) The member appointed under Subsection (b)(5) of this
43	43	section serves as presiding officer of the commission.
44	44	(d) Each member of the commission must be a resident of this
45	45	state. A person is not eligible to serve on the commission if the
46	46	person:
47	47	(1) holds an elective or appointive public office,
48	48	other than the office of retired federal judge if the member is
49	49	appointed under Subsection (b)(6) of this section or an office on
50	50	the governing body of a school district;
51	51	(2) holds an office in a political party;
52	52	(3) is employed by:
53	53	(A) an elected or appointed public official;
54	54	(B) a candidate for the legislature or the United
55	55	States Congress; or
56	56	(C) an entity whose principal purpose is to
57	57	support or oppose a candidate described by Paragraph (B) of this
58	58	subdivision;
59	59	(4) has served in a position described by Subdivision
60	60	(1), (2), or (3) of this subsection within the three years preceding
61	61	the date the person is appointed to the commission;
62	62	(5) is required by law to register with the Texas
63	63	Ethics Commission on account of the person's communications with
64	64	state officers to influence legislation or administrative action,
65	65	or was required to register in that capacity in the three years
66	66	preceding the date the person was appointed to the commission; or
67	67	(6) is related to an elected or appointed public
68	68	official within the second degree by consanguinity, as determined
69	69	under general law governing consanguinity.
70	70	(e) The full term of a member of the commission is a 10-year
71	71	term that begins on February 1 of the year ending in 1 in which the
72	72	initial appointment to the position is required to be made and
73	73	expires on January 31 of the next year ending in 1. A vacancy on the
74	74	commission is filled in the same manner as provided by this section
75	75	for the original appointment.
76	76	(f) A member of the commission may not be a candidate in an
77	77	election for the Texas Senate or Texas House of Representatives
78	78	before the third anniversary of the date the commission adopts a
79	79	redistricting plan or modification of a plan for that body during
80	80	the person's service on the commission.
81	81	(g) A redistricting plan or modification of a redistricting
82	82	plan is adopted by a vote of not less than five members of the
83	83	commission.
84	84	(h) The members of the commission appointed under
85	85	Subsections (b)(1) through (4) of this section shall be appointed
86	86	not earlier than January 25 or later than January 31 of each year
87	87	ending in 1. The member appointed under Subsection (b)(5) of this
88	88	section shall be appointed not later than the 15th day after the
89	89	commission convenes under Subsection (i) of this section. The
90	90	members appointed under Subsection (b)(6) of this section shall be
91	91	appointed not later than the 15th day after the date of an
92	92	appointment under Subsection (b)(5) of this section.
93	93	(i) The commission shall convene on the first business day
94	94	after January 31 of each year ending in 1 and shall adopt a
95	95	redistricting plan for the Texas Senate, the Texas House of
96	96	Representatives, and the members of the United States House of
97	97	Representatives elected from this state not later than July 1 of
98	98	that year, unless the federal decennial census is delivered to the
99	99	appropriate officials of this state after May 1 of that year, in
100	100	which event the commission shall adopt those redistricting plans
101	101	not later than the 90th day after the date the census is delivered.
102	102	(j) The commission shall reconvene to modify a
103	103	redistricting plan if the plan becomes unenforceable by order of a
104	104	court or by action of any other appropriate authority. In modifying
105	105	a redistricting plan, the commission must comply with all
106	106	applicable standards imposed by this section, other provisions of
107	107	this constitution, and laws enacted under this section but is not
108	108	limited to modifications necessary to correct legal deficiencies.
109	109	(k) In a redistricting plan or modification of a plan
110	110	adopted under this section:
111	111	(1) each district must be composed of contiguous
112	112	territory, and for purposes of this subdivision territory that is
113	113	adjoining only at a point is not considered contiguous;
114	114	(2) each congressional district must contain a
115	115	population as nearly equal as possible to the population of any
116	116	other district in the plan;
117	117	(3) in a legislative redistricting plan the overall
118	118	range of population deviation from the district with the largest
119	119	population to the district with the smallest population may not
120	120	exceed 2.5 percent;
121	121	(4) to the extent reasonable, district boundaries must
122	122	coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions of the state
123	123	and divide the smallest number of counties, municipalities, and
124	124	school districts possible; and
125	125	(5) districts must be drawn in accordance with the
126	126	federal constitution and all applicable federal laws.
127	127	(l) If a political subdivision must be divided, the
128	128	commission shall give preference to dividing a more populous
129	129	political subdivision before a less populous one. This subsection
130	130	does not apply to a boundary drawn along a county line that divides
131	131	a municipality.
132	132	(m) The commission may not draw a redistricting plan
133	133	purposely to favor or discriminate against a political party or any
134	134	other group.
135	135	(n) The legislature shall enact laws consistent with this
136	136	section to implement this section. The laws may include additional
137	137	qualifications for commission members and additional standards
138	138	applicable to redistricting plans.
139	139	(o) The legislature shall appropriate money or otherwise
140	140	provide the commission sufficient facilities and personnel to
141	141	enable the commission to carry out its duties.
142	142	(p) This section takes effect January 1, 2021. On that
143	143	date, the Legislative Redistricting Board is abolished and Section
144	144	28 of this article is repealed. The Texas Redistricting Commission
145	145	shall convene for the first time on the first business day after
146	146	January 31, 2021. This subsection expires January 1, 2022.
147	147	SECTION 2. Section 7a, Article V, Texas Constitution, is
148	148	amended by amending Subsections (e) and (i) and adding Subsection
149	149	(j) to read as follows:
150	150	(e) Unless the legislature enacts a statewide
151	151	reapportionment of the judicial districts following each federal
152	152	decennial census, the board shall convene not later than the first
153	153	Monday of June of the third year following the year in which the
154	154	federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide
155	155	reapportionment of the districts. The board shall complete its
156	156	work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary of
157	157	state not later than August 31 of the same year. If the Judicial
158	158	Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by that
159	159	date, the Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board]
160	160	established by Article III, Section 28a [28], of this constitution
161	161	shall convene on September 1 of the same year to make a statewide
162	162	reapportionment of the judicial districts not later than the 90th
163	163	[150th] day after the final day for the Judicial Districts Board to
164	164	make the reapportionment.
165	165	(i) The legislature, the Judicial Districts Board, or the
166	166	Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board] may not
167	167	redistrict the judicial districts to provide for any judicial
168	168	district smaller in size than an entire county except as provided by
169	169	this section. Judicial districts smaller in size than the entire
170	170	county may be created subsequent to a general election where a
171	171	majority of the persons voting on the proposition adopt the
172	172	proposition "to allow the division of ____________ County into
173	173	judicial districts composed of parts of ____________ County." No
174	174	redistricting plan may be proposed or adopted by the legislature,
175	175	the Judicial Districts Board, or the Texas [Legislative]
176	176	Redistricting Commission [Board] in anticipation of a future action
177	177	by the voters of any county.
178	178	(j) Until January 1, 2021, a reference in this section to
179	179	the Texas Redistricting Commission means the Legislative
180	180	Redistricting Board established under Article III, Section 28, of
181	181	this constitution. This subsection expires January 1, 2021.
182	182	SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
183	183	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 2017.
184	184	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
185	185	following proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing
186	186	the Texas Redistricting Commission to redistrict the Texas
187	187	Legislature and Texas congressional districts and revising
188	188	procedures for redistricting."