Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR59 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	By: Howard H.J.R. No. 59
2	2
3	3
4	4	A JOINT RESOLUTION
5	5	proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas
6	6	Redistricting Commission to redistrict the Texas Legislature and
7	7	Texas congressional districts and revising procedures for
8	8	redistricting.
9	9	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by
11	11	adding Section 28a to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 28a. (a) The Texas Redistricting Commission exercises
13	13	the legislative authority of this state to adopt redistricting
14	14	plans for the election of the Texas House of Representatives, the
15	15	Texas Senate, and the members of the United States House of
16	16	Representatives elected from this state. Districts for those
17	17	legislative bodies may not be established or changed except as
18	18	provided by this section.
19	19	(b) The commission consists of seven members selected as
20	20	follows:
21	21	(1) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
22	22	Senate with the most seniority, as defined by senate rules;
23	23	(2) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
24	24	Senate with the most seniority, as defined by senate rules, who is
25	25	of a different political party than the member described by
26	26	Subdivision (1) of this subsection;
27	27	(3) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
28	28	House of Representatives with the most seniority, as defined by
29	29	house rules;
30	30	(4) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
31	31	House of Representatives with the most seniority, as defined by
32	32	house rules, who is of a different political party than the member
33	33	described by Subdivision (3) of this subsection;
34	34	(5) one member appointed by an affirmative vote of not
35	35	fewer than three of the members of the commission selected under
36	36	Subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection; and
37	37	(6) two members appointed by the member appointed
38	38	under Subdivision (5) of this subsection, who must be retired
39	39	federal judges appointed to the federal bench by presidents of
40	40	different political parties.
41	41	(c) The member appointed under Subsection (b)(5) of this
42	42	section serves as presiding officer of the commission.
43	43	(d) Each member of the commission must be a resident of this
44	44	state. A person is not eligible to serve on the commission if the
45	45	person:
46	46	(1) holds an elective or appointive public office,
47	47	other than the office of retired federal judge if the member is
48	48	appointed under Subsection (b)(6) of this section or an office on
49	49	the governing body of a school district;
50	50	(2) holds an office in a political party;
51	51	(3) is employed by:
52	52	(A) an elected or appointed public official;
53	53	(B) a candidate for the legislature or the United
54	54	States Congress; or
55	55	(C) an entity whose principal purpose is to
56	56	support or oppose a candidate described by Paragraph (B) of this
57	57	subdivision;
58	58	(4) has served in a position described by Subdivision
59	59	(1), (2), or (3) of this subsection within the three years preceding
60	60	the date the person is appointed to the commission;
61	61	(5) is required by law to register with the Texas
62	62	Ethics Commission on account of the person's communications with
63	63	state officers to influence legislation or administrative action,
64	64	or was required to register in that capacity in the three years
65	65	preceding the date the person was appointed to the commission; or
66	66	(6) is related to an elected or appointed public
67	67	official within the second degree by consanguinity, as determined
68	68	under general law governing consanguinity.
69	69	(e) The full term of a member of the commission is a 10-year
70	70	term that begins on February 1 of the year ending in 1 in which the
71	71	initial appointment to the position is required to be made and
72	72	expires on January 31 of the next year ending in 1. A vacancy on the
73	73	commission is filled in the same manner as provided by this section
74	74	for the original appointment.
75	75	(f) A member of the commission may not be a candidate in an
76	76	election for the Texas Senate or Texas House of Representatives
77	77	before the third anniversary of the date the commission adopts a
78	78	redistricting plan or modification of a plan for that body during
79	79	the person's service on the commission.
80	80	(g) A redistricting plan or modification of a redistricting
81	81	plan is adopted by a vote of not less than five members of the
82	82	commission.
83	83	(h) The members of the commission appointed under
84	84	Subsections (b)(1) through (4) of this section shall be appointed
85	85	not earlier than January 25 or later than January 31 of each year
86	86	ending in 1. The member appointed under Subsection (b)(5) of this
87	87	section shall be appointed not later than the 15th day after the
88	88	commission convenes under Subsection (i) of this section. The
89	89	members appointed under Subsection (b)(6) of this section shall be
90	90	appointed not later than the 15th day after the date of an
91	91	appointment under Subsection (b)(5) of this section.
92	92	(i) The commission shall convene on the first business day
93	93	after January 31 of each year ending in 1 and shall adopt a
94	94	redistricting plan for the Texas Senate, the Texas House of
95	95	Representatives, and the members of the United States House of
96	96	Representatives elected from this state not later than July 1 of
97	97	that year, unless the federal decennial census is delivered to the
98	98	appropriate officials of this state after May 1 of that year, in
99	99	which event the commission shall adopt those redistricting plans
100	100	not later than the 90th day after the date the census is delivered.
101	101	(j) The commission shall reconvene to modify a
102	102	redistricting plan if the plan becomes unenforceable by order of a
103	103	court or by action of any other appropriate authority. In modifying
104	104	a redistricting plan, the commission must comply with all
105	105	applicable standards imposed by this section, other provisions of
106	106	this constitution, and laws enacted under this section but is not
107	107	limited to modifications necessary to correct legal deficiencies.
108	108	(k) In a redistricting plan or modification of a plan
109	109	adopted under this section:
110	110	(1) each district must be composed of contiguous
111	111	territory, and for purposes of this subdivision territory that is
112	112	adjoining only at a point is not considered contiguous;
113	113	(2) each congressional district must contain a
114	114	population as nearly equal as possible to the population of any
115	115	other district in the plan;
116	116	(3) in a legislative redistricting plan the overall
117	117	range of population deviation from the district with the largest
118	118	population to the district with the smallest population may not
119	119	exceed 2.5 percent;
120	120	(4) to the extent reasonable, district boundaries must
121	121	coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions of the state
122	122	and divide the smallest number of counties, municipalities, and
123	123	school districts possible; and
124	124	(5) districts must be drawn in accordance with the
125	125	federal constitution and all applicable federal laws.
126	126	(l) If a political subdivision must be divided, the
127	127	commission shall give preference to dividing a more populous
128	128	political subdivision before a less populous one. This subsection
129	129	does not apply to a boundary drawn along a county line that divides
130	130	a municipality.
131	131	(m) The commission may not draw a redistricting plan
132	132	purposely to favor or discriminate against a political party or any
133	133	other group.
134	134	(n) The legislature shall enact laws consistent with this
135	135	section to implement this section. The laws may include additional
136	136	qualifications for commission members and additional standards
137	137	applicable to redistricting plans.
138	138	(o) The legislature shall appropriate money or otherwise
139	139	provide the commission sufficient facilities and personnel to
140	140	enable the commission to carry out its duties.
141	141	(p) This section takes effect January 1, 2023. On that date,
142	142	the Legislative Redistricting Board is abolished and Section 28 of
143	143	this article is repealed. The Texas Redistricting Commission shall
144	144	convene for the first time on the first business day after January
145	145	31, 2023. This subsection expires January 1, 2024.
146	146	SECTION 2. Section 7a, Article V, Texas Constitution, is
147	147	amended by amending Subsections (e) and (i) and adding Subsection
148	148	(j) to read as follows:
149	149	(e) Unless the legislature enacts a statewide
150	150	reapportionment of the judicial districts following each federal
151	151	decennial census, the board shall convene not later than the first
152	152	Monday of June of the third year following the year in which the
153	153	federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide
154	154	reapportionment of the districts. The board shall complete its
155	155	work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary of
156	156	state not later than August 31 of the same year. If the Judicial
157	157	Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by that
158	158	date, the Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board]
159	159	established by Article III, Section 28a [28], of this constitution
160	160	shall convene on September 1 of the same year to make a statewide
161	161	reapportionment of the judicial districts not later than the 90th
162	162	[150th] day after the final day for the Judicial Districts Board to
163	163	make the reapportionment.
164	164	(i) The legislature, the Judicial Districts Board, or the
165	165	Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board] may not
166	166	redistrict the judicial districts to provide for any judicial
167	167	district smaller in size than an entire county except as provided by
168	168	this section. Judicial districts smaller in size than the entire
169	169	county may be created subsequent to a general election where a
170	170	majority of the persons voting on the proposition adopt the
171	171	proposition "to allow the division of _______ County into judicial
172	172	districts composed of parts of ______ County." No redistricting
173	173	plan may be proposed or adopted by the legislature, the Judicial
174	174	Districts Board, or the Texas [Legislative] Redistricting
175	175	Commission [Board] in anticipation of a future action by the voters
176	176	of any county.
177	177	(j) Until January 1, 2023, a reference in this section to
178	178	the Texas Redistricting Commission means the Legislative
179	179	Redistricting Board established under Article III, Section 28, of
180	180	this constitution. This subsection expires January 1, 2023.
181	181	SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
182	182	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 2021.
183	183	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
184	184	following proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing
185	185	the Texas Redistricting Commission to redistrict the Texas
186	186	Legislature and Texas congressional districts and revising
187	187	procedures for redistricting."