| 1 | 1 | | By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 4564 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to establishing principles to govern redistricting plans |
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| 7 | 7 | | enacted by the legislature. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 3, Government Code, is amended |
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| 10 | 10 | | by adding Chapter 319A to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | CHAPTER 319A. REDISTRICTING LEGISLATION |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 319A.001. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING LEGISLATIVE |
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| 13 | 13 | | REDISTRICTING. (a) In enacting legislation adopting or modifying |
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| 14 | 14 | | a redistricting plan for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas |
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| 15 | 15 | | House of Representatives, or the members of the United States House |
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| 16 | 16 | | of Representatives elected from this state, the legislature shall |
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| 17 | 17 | | ensure that the plan, including any modifications to the plan, |
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| 18 | 18 | | conforms to the following principles: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) a plan shall respect the integrity of the state's |
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| 20 | 20 | | basic geographic regions to the extent practicable; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2) a plan shall avoid unnecessarily dividing counties |
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| 22 | 22 | | and municipalities in the formation of districts, and district |
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| 23 | 23 | | boundaries shall to the extent practicable be coterminous with the |
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| 24 | 24 | | boundaries of counties and municipalities, but if division of a |
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| 25 | 25 | | county or municipality is unavoidable, district lines must follow |
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| 26 | 26 | | boundaries such as rivers, mountains, state highways, or |
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| 27 | 27 | | residential subdivisions to the extent practicable; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (3) a plan shall to the extent practicable keep intact |
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| 29 | 29 | | communities of interest defined by social, economic, racial, |
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| 30 | 30 | | ethnic, cultural, industrial, commercial, and geographic |
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| 31 | 31 | | commonalities; |
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| 32 | 32 | | (4) a district shall be geographically compact and |
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| 33 | 33 | | composed of convenient contiguous territory; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (5) a plan may not be drawn with consideration to |
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| 35 | 35 | | partisan political effect or with intent to favor or disfavor any |
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| 36 | 36 | | specific person, political party, or other organization; |
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| 37 | 37 | | (6) a plan must comply with applicable state and |
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| 38 | 38 | | federal constitutional and statutory requirements, including the |
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| 39 | 39 | | federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.); |
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| 40 | 40 | | (7) the districts in a plan must be equal in population |
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| 41 | 41 | | as nearly as practicable in accordance with the other principles |
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| 42 | 42 | | described by this subsection; and |
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| 43 | 43 | | (8) in addition to the requirements of federal law, |
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| 44 | 44 | | districts must be drawn in a manner that does not discriminate on |
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| 45 | 45 | | the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group |
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| 46 | 46 | | by ensuring the voting strength of racial, ethnic, and language |
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| 47 | 47 | | minorities in the districts is not intentionally or inadvertently |
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| 48 | 48 | | diluted in a manner that deprives minority voters of an equal |
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| 49 | 49 | | opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. |
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| 50 | 50 | | (b) The principle described by Subdivision (a)(2) applies |
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| 51 | 51 | | to a plan for the election of the Texas House of Representatives in |
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| 52 | 52 | | addition to the requirements of Section 26, Article III, Texas |
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| 53 | 53 | | Constitution. District lines shall to the extent practicable be |
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| 54 | 54 | | coterminous with the boundaries of counties and municipalities. |
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| 55 | 55 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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