By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 4564
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing principles to govern redistricting plans
enacted by the legislature.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 3, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 319A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 319A. REDISTRICTING LEGISLATION
Sec. 319A.001. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING LEGISLATIVE
REDISTRICTING. (a) In enacting legislation adopting or modifying
a redistricting plan for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas
House of Representatives, or the members of the United States House
of Representatives elected from this state, the legislature shall
ensure that the plan, including any modifications to the plan,
conforms to the following principles:
(1) a plan shall respect the integrity of the state's
basic geographic regions to the extent practicable;
(2) a plan shall avoid unnecessarily dividing counties
and municipalities in the formation of districts, and district
boundaries shall to the extent practicable be coterminous with the
boundaries of counties and municipalities, but if division of a
county or municipality is unavoidable, district lines must follow
boundaries such as rivers, mountains, state highways, or
residential subdivisions to the extent practicable;
(3) a plan shall to the extent practicable keep intact
communities of interest defined by social, economic, racial,
ethnic, cultural, industrial, commercial, and geographic
commonalities;
(4) a district shall be geographically compact and
composed of convenient contiguous territory;
(5) a plan may not be drawn with consideration to
partisan political effect or with intent to favor or disfavor any
specific person, political party, or other organization;
(6) a plan must comply with applicable state and
federal constitutional and statutory requirements, including the
federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.);
(7) the districts in a plan must be equal in population
as nearly as practicable in accordance with the other principles
described by this subsection; and
(8) in addition to the requirements of federal law,
districts must be drawn in a manner that does not discriminate on
the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group
by ensuring the voting strength of racial, ethnic, and language
minorities in the districts is not intentionally or inadvertently
diluted in a manner that deprives minority voters of an equal
opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
(b) The principle described by Subdivision (a)(2) applies
to a plan for the election of the Texas House of Representatives in
addition to the requirements of Section 26, Article III, Texas
Constitution. District lines shall to the extent practicable be
coterminous with the boundaries of counties and municipalities.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.