By: Huffman S.R. No. 4
SENATE RESOLUTION
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Texas, That
the following rules of procedure shall be observed by the Senate
for the consideration of redistricting during the 87th
Legislature:
SECTION 1. REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE. (a) The Special
Committee on Redistricting is composed of members appointed by
the President. The President shall designate the chair and
vice-chair from the total membership of the committee.
(b) Bills and resolutions relating to the composition of
legislative, congressional, and state board of education
districts shall be referred to the committee by the President.
Senate rules governing a motion to refer or commit are
applicable, except that the special committee takes precedence
over a standing committee when several motions are made.
(c) The committee shall have the same authority and
powers granted to standing committees by Senate rules and by
applicable statutes. Where applicable the rules governing
standing committees of the Senate apply to the committee's
proceedings. In case of any conflict, the procedures herein
shall prevail over a conflicting Senate or committee rule.
SECTION 2. REGIONAL HEARINGS; VIDEOCONFERENCE
TESTIMONY. (a) The committee shall hold regional hearings to
solicit public input on redistricting, including local
communities of interest.
(b) The committee may meet to conduct a regional hearing
in any location in this state that the chair determines
appropriate to encourage participation from all areas of the
state. The committee may allow the use of two-way
videoconferencing to facilitate testimony from the general
public during a regional hearing held in the Capitol.
(c) A witness testifying by videoconference must be
clearly visible and audible to the committee members. A
committee member questioning a witness by videoconference must
be clearly visible and audible to the witness and the committee
members.
(d) A witness testifying by videoconference must submit a
witness affirmation form before testifying.
(e) The chair may provide procedures for the orderly
participation of witnesses and may reasonably limit the time for
registration of witnesses, the order of appearance, and the time
allotted for each witness in order to provide all witnesses the
opportunity to be heard in a timely manner.
(f) The committee may not consider or take formal action
on a specific bill, resolution, or other nonprocedural matter
during a regional hearing, except for the adoption of permanent
rules at an initial meeting held in the Capitol.
SECTION 3. PUBLIC NOTICE OF MEETINGS. (a) The chair
shall give public notice at least 72 hours in advance of a meeting
for a regional hearing during the regular session or in the
interim between sessions, and 48 hours in advance during a called
session.
(b) The chair shall give public notice at least 48 hours
in advance of a meeting for a public hearing on a bill or
resolution.
(c) Public notice of the time and place of a meeting shall
be posted in a public place in the manner required by Senate
rules.
SECTION 4. CONSIDERATION OF REDISTRICTING BILLS BY THE
SENATE. (a) No proposed amendment, amendment to the amendment,
or substitute amendment changing any district in a legislative,
congressional, or state board of education redistricting bill is
eligible for consideration on second or third reading unless 35
copies of an amendment packet prepared by the Texas Legislative
Council (TLC) have been filed with the calendar clerk in
accordance with this section.
(b) An amendment packet is not required to include a
textual description of tracts, block groups, and block numbers,
but must include:
(1) a general written description of the proposed
changes, including district numbers if the amendment does not
propose a statewide substitute plan, the names of counties or
description of regions affected, and the plan number assigned by
the redistricting computer system operated by TLC;
(2) one or more maps prepared by TLC indicating the
changes made by the amendment; and
(3) standard reports prepared by TLC that indicate
population, voter data, and incumbent locations for the
districts affected by the amendment.
(c) The calendar clerk shall as soon as practicable make
filed amendment packets available to the members of the Senate.
The calendar clerk shall also work with TLC to provide a
hyperlink for each amendment from the bill webpage on the public
legislative information website to the appropriate plan in the
public DistrictViewer application operated by TLC.
(d) An amendment packet for each original amendment that
will be offered during second reading consideration of a
legislative, congressional, or state board of education
redistricting bill must be filed with the calendar clerk by 9
a.m. on the third calendar day after the day on which the bill has
been reported favorably from a committee, not including Sundays.
(e) A bill with filed amendments subject to Subsection
(d) is not eligible for consideration on second reading until 24
hours after amendment packets have been made available to members
of the Senate.
(f) Subsections (d) and (e) do not apply after the 122nd
day of the regular session, or to a bill that originates in the
house of representatives during a called session.
SECTION 5. AUTHORITY; CONFLICT OF RULES. (a) The Senate
adopts these redistricting rules and procedures under the
authority of Article III, Section 11 of the Texas Constitution.
All questions of procedure not provided for in this resolution
shall be subject to the standing rules of the Senate. In case of
any conflict, the procedures herein shall prevail over a
conflicting Senate rule or procedure.
_______________________________
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on January 13, 2021,
by the following vote: Yeas 31,
Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate