Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1025 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Howard H.B. No. 1025
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the reapportionment of state legislative,
7	7	congressional, and judicial districts and the creation, function,
8	8	and duties of the Texas Redistricting Commission.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 3, Government Code, is amended
11	11	by adding Chapter 307 to read as follows:
12	12	CHAPTER 307. TEXAS REDISTRICTING COMMISSION
13	13	Sec. 307.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
14	14	(1) "Commission" means the Texas Redistricting
15	15	Commission established by Section 28a, Article III, Texas
16	16	Constitution.
17	17	(2) "Plan" means a redistricting plan for the Texas
18	18	Senate, Texas House of Representatives, or Texas congressional
19	19	districts adopted as provided by Section 28a, Article III, Texas
20	20	Constitution, and this chapter.
21	21	Sec. 307.002. OATH. Before serving on the commission, each
22	22	person appointed shall take and subscribe to the constitutional
23	23	oath of office.
24	24	Sec. 307.003. ELIGIBILITY. The eligibility of a person to
25	25	serve on the commission is as prescribed by Section 28a, Article
26	26	III, Texas Constitution.
27	27	Sec. 307.004. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES. A member of the
28	28	commission may not:
29	29	(1) campaign for elective office while a member of the
30	30	commission;
31	31	(2) actively participate in or contribute to the
32	32	political campaign of a candidate for a state or federal elective
33	33	office while a member of the commission;
34	34	(3) serve as or be a candidate to be a member of the
35	35	Texas Legislature before the third anniversary of the date the
36	36	commission adopted a redistricting plan for that body during the
37	37	member's service on the commission; or
38	38	(4) perform an activity for which a person is required
39	39	to register under Section 305.003.
40	40	Sec. 307.005. OPERATION OF COMMISSION. (a) The
41	41	legislature shall appropriate sufficient money for the
42	42	compensation and payment of the expenses of the commission members
43	43	and any staff employed by the commission.
44	44	(b) The commission shall be provided access to statistical
45	45	or other information compiled by the state or its political
46	46	subdivisions as necessary for the commission's reapportionment
47	47	duties.
48	48	(c) The Texas Legislative Council, under the direction of
49	49	the commission, shall provide the technical staff and clerical
50	50	services that the commission needs to prepare its plans.
51	51	Sec. 307.006. DUTIES. The commission shall:
52	52	(1) adopt rules to carry out the constitutional duties
53	53	of the commission and to administer this chapter; and
54	54	(2) act as the legislature's recipient of the official
55	55	census data and maps from the United States Census Bureau pursuant
56	56	to the federal decennial census.
57	57	Sec. 307.007. REDISTRICTING PLAN; FORM. (a) For each plan
58	58	or modification of a plan adopted by the commission, the commission
59	59	shall prepare and publish a report that includes:
60	60	(1) for each district in the plan, the total
61	61	population and the percentage deviation from the average district
62	62	population;
63	63	(2) an explanation of the criteria used in developing
64	64	the plan with a justification of any population deviation in a
65	65	district from the average district population;
66	66	(3) a map or maps of all the districts; and
67	67	(4) the estimated cost to be incurred by the counties
68	68	for changes in county election precinct boundaries required to
69	69	conform to the districts adopted by the commission.
70	70	(b) The commission shall make a copy of a report prepared
71	71	under this section available to the public.
72	72	Sec. 307.008. REDISTRICTING PLAN STANDARDS. (a) A plan
73	73	adopted by the commission must conform to the standards provided by
74	74	Sections 25, 26, and 28a, Article III, Texas Constitution.
75	75	(b) In developing a plan, the commission may not consider:
76	76	(1) the potential effects of the districts on
77	77	incumbents or potential candidates for office;
78	78	(2) the residence of any elected official or potential
79	79	candidate for office;
80	80	(3) any information involving the past political
81	81	performance of a specific geographic area, except as necessary to
82	82	comply with federal law; and
83	83	(4) data concerning party affiliation or voting
84	84	history, except as necessary to comply with federal law.
85	85	Sec. 307.009. HEARINGS. (a) After proposing an initial
86	86	plan or subsequent modification for each body for which the
87	87	commission is required to adopt a plan, the commission shall hold
88	88	public hearings in not fewer than four different geographic regions
89	89	to consider each plan or modification.
90	90	(b) The commission shall provide public notice of a hearing
91	91	not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing.
92	92	(c) After reviewing all information received at each
93	93	hearing, the commission shall make all necessary revisions of the
94	94	initial plan or modification before final adoption of a plan or
95	95	modification of a plan.
96	96	Sec. 307.010. DISCLOSURE OF DATA REQUIRED. The commission
97	97	shall make all plans submitted to the commission, including the
98	98	commission's initial plans and all subsequent modifications,
99	99	hearing transcripts, minutes of meetings, maps, narrative
100	100	descriptions of proposed districts, and other data used by the
101	101	commission available to the public through the use of an Internet
102	102	website and other appropriate means.
103	103	Sec. 307.011. SUBMISSION OF PLAN. On adoption of a plan or
104	104	modification of a plan by the commission, the commission shall
105	105	submit the plan or modification to the governor, the secretary of
106	106	state, and the presiding officer of each house of the legislature.
107	107	Sec. 307.012. CESSATION OF OPERATIONS. (a) Following the
108	108	initial adoption of all plans that the commission is required to
109	109	adopt, the commission shall take all necessary steps to conclude
110	110	its business and suspend operations until the commission reconvenes
111	111	as provided by Section 28a, Article III, or Section 7a, Article V,
112	112	Texas Constitution, if it does reconvene.
113	113	(b) The commission shall prepare a financial statement
114	114	disclosing all expenditures made by the commission. The official
115	115	record of the commission must contain all relevant information
116	116	developed by the commission in carrying out its duties, including
117	117	maps, data, minutes of meetings, written communications, and other
118	118	information.
119	119	(c) After the commission suspends operations, the secretary
120	120	of state becomes the custodian of its official records for purposes
121	121	of election administration. Any unexpended money from an
122	122	appropriation to the commission reverts to the general revenue
123	123	fund.
124	124	Sec. 307.013. CHALLENGES TO PLAN. After a plan or
125	125	modification of a plan is adopted by the commission, any person
126	126	aggrieved by the plan may file a petition with the supreme court
127	127	challenging the plan.
128	128	Sec. 307.014. RECONVENING OF COMMISSION FOR
129	129	REAPPORTIONMENT OF JUDICIAL DISTRICTS. (a) If the Judicial
130	130	Districts Board fails to make a statewide reapportionment of
131	131	judicial districts under Subchapter F, Chapter 24, unless the
132	132	commission is already reconvened, the commission shall reconvene on
133	133	September 1 of the year provided by Section 7a(e), Article V, Texas
134	134	Constitution, to make the statewide reapportionment as required by
135	135	Section 24.946(a).
136	136	(b) The commission shall complete the reapportionment of
137	137	judicial districts as soon as possible within the time provided by
138	138	Section 7a(e), Article V, Texas Constitution.
139	139	(c) The commission's reapportionment of judicial districts
140	140	becomes effective as provided by Sections 24.948 and 24.949.
141	141	(d) Following the effective date of a reapportionment of
142	142	judicial districts, the commission shall take all necessary steps
143	143	to conclude its business and suspend operations in accordance with
144	144	Section 307.012. The commission shall suspend operations after the
145	145	90th day after the September 1 on which the commission's authority
146	146	to adopt a reapportionment plan for the judicial districts begins,
147	147	unless the supreme court grants the commission additional time to
148	148	conduct its activities.
149	149	SECTION 2. Section 42.032, Election Code, is amended to
150	150	read as follows:
151	151	Sec. 42.032. REDISTRICTING: BOUNDARY CHANGES. If changes
152	152	in county election precinct boundaries are necessary to give effect
153	153	to a redistricting plan under Article III, Section 28a [28], of the
154	154	Texas Constitution, each commissioners court shall order the
155	155	changes before October 1 of the year in which the redistricting is
156	156	done.
157	157	SECTION 3. Section 24.945(e), Government Code, is amended
158	158	to read as follows:
159	159	(e) The legislature, the Judicial Districts Board, or the
160	160	Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board] may not
161	161	redistrict the judicial districts to provide for any judicial
162	162	district smaller in size than an entire county except as provided by
163	163	this subsection. Judicial districts smaller in size than the
164	164	entire county may be created subsequent to a general election in
165	165	which a majority of the persons voting on the proposition adopt the
166	166	proposition "to allow the division of ____________________ County
167	167	into judicial districts composed of parts of ____________________
168	168	County." A redistricting plan may not be proposed or adopted by the
169	169	legislature, the Judicial Districts Board, or the Texas
170	170	[Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board] in anticipation of
171	171	a future action by the voters of any county.
172	172	SECTION 4. Section 24.946(a), Government Code, is amended
173	173	to read as follows:
174	174	(a) The board shall meet in accordance with its own rules.
175	175	The board shall meet at least once in each interim between regular
176	176	sessions of the legislature and shall exercise its reapportionment
177	177	powers only in the interims between regular legislative sessions.
178	178	Meetings of the board shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter
179	179	551, except as otherwise provided by this subchapter. A
180	180	reapportionment may not be ordered in the interim immediately
181	181	following a regular session of the legislature in which a valid and
182	182	subsisting statewide reapportionment of judicial districts is
183	183	enacted by the legislature. Unless the legislature enacts a
184	184	statewide reapportionment of the judicial districts following each
185	185	federal decennial census, the board shall convene not later than
186	186	the first Monday of June of the third year following the year in
187	187	which the federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide
188	188	reapportionment of the districts. The board shall complete its
189	189	work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary of
190	190	state not later than August 31 of the same year. If the Judicial
191	191	Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by that
192	192	date, the Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board]
193	193	established by Article III, Section 28a [28], of the Texas
194	194	Constitution shall make a statewide reapportionment of the judicial
195	195	districts not later than the 90th [150th] day after the final day
196	196	for the Judicial Districts Board to make the reapportionment, and
197	197	that apportionment takes effect as provided by Sections 24.948 and
198	198	24.949.
199	199	SECTION 5. Section 2058.002(a), Government Code, is amended
200	200	to read as follows:
201	201	(a) The legislature or the Texas [Legislative]
202	202	Redistricting Commission [Board] under Article III, Section 28a
203	203	[28], of the Texas Constitution may officially recognize or act on a
204	204	federal decennial census before September 1 of the year after the
205	205	calendar year during which the census was taken.
206	206	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2023, but only
207	207	if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 87th Legislature,
208	208	Regular Session, 2021, establishing the Texas Redistricting
209	209	Commission to redistrict the Texas Legislature and Texas
210	210	congressional districts and revising procedures for redistricting
211	211	is approved by the voters. If that proposed constitutional
212	212	amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.