87R11732 TJB-D
By: Collier H.B. No. 3054
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, the State Board of Education, 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 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;
(2) a plan shall to the extent practicable keep intact
communities of interest defined by social, economic, racial,
ethnic, cultural, industrial, commercial, and geographic
commonalities;
(3) a plan must protect minority voting rights in
accordance 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.); and
(4) the districts in a plan must be equal in population
as nearly as practicable in accordance with the other principles
described by this subsection.
(b) The principle described by Subsection (a)(1) 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, 2021.