Texas 2021 - 87th 3rd C.S.

Texas House Bill HB151 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87S30514 JRJ-F
2	2	By: Davis H.B. No. 151
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to establishing principles to govern redistricting plans
8	8	enacted by the legislature.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 3, Government Code, is amended
11	11	by adding Chapter 319A to read as follows:
12	12	CHAPTER 319A. REDISTRICTING LEGISLATION
13	13	Sec. 319A.001. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING LEGISLATIVE
14	14	REDISTRICTING. (a) In enacting legislation adopting or modifying
15	15	a redistricting plan for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas
16	16	House of Representatives, or the members of the United States House
17	17	of Representatives elected from this state, the legislature shall
18	18	ensure that the plan, including any modifications to the plan,
19	19	conforms to the following principles:
20	20	(1) a plan shall respect the integrity of the state's
21	21	basic geographic regions to the extent practicable;
22	22	(2) a plan shall avoid unnecessarily dividing counties
23	23	and municipalities in the formation of districts, and district
24	24	boundaries shall to the extent practicable be coterminous with the
25	25	boundaries of counties and municipalities, but if division of a
26	26	county or municipality is unavoidable, district lines must follow
27	27	boundaries such as rivers, mountains, state highways, or
28	28	residential subdivisions to the extent practicable;
29	29	(3) a plan shall to the extent practicable keep intact
30	30	communities of interest defined by social, economic, racial,
31	31	ethnic, cultural, industrial, commercial, and geographic
32	32	commonalities;
33	33	(4) a district shall be geographically compact and
34	34	composed of convenient contiguous territory;
35	35	(5) a plan may not be drawn with consideration to
36	36	partisan political effect or with intent to favor or disfavor any
37	37	specific person, political party, or other organization;
38	38	(6) a plan must comply with applicable state and
39	39	federal constitutional and statutory requirements, including the
40	40	federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.);
41	41	(7) the districts in a plan must be equal in population
42	42	as nearly as practicable in accordance with the other principles
43	43	described by this subsection; and
44	44	(8) in addition to the requirements of federal law,
45	45	districts must be drawn in a manner that does not discriminate on
46	46	the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group
47	47	by ensuring the voting strength of racial, ethnic, and language
48	48	minorities in the districts is not intentionally or inadvertently
49	49	diluted in a manner that deprives minority voters of an equal
50	50	opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
51	51	(b) The principle described by Subsection (a)(2) applies to
52	52	a plan for the election of the Texas House of Representatives in
53	53	addition to the requirements of Section 26, Article III, Texas
54	54	Constitution. District lines shall to the extent practicable be
55	55	coterminous with the boundaries of counties and municipalities.
56	56	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
57	57	last day of the legislative session.