By: Huffman S.R. No. 2
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 88th
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 the interim
between sessions and at least 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
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 have been filed with the calendar clerk in accordance
with this section.
(b) An amendment packet is not required to include a
description of geography in the form of counties and census
tracts, block groups, and blocks, 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 a
description of regions affected, and the plan number assigned by
the redistricting computer system operated by the Texas
Legislative Council;
(2) one or more maps prepared by the Texas
Legislative Council indicating the changes made by the
amendment; and
(3) standard reports prepared by the Texas
Legislative Council that include 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 the Texas Legislative
Council to provide hyperlinks from the bill webpage on the public
legislative information website to the appropriate plan for each
amendment in the public DistrictViewer application operated by
the Texas Legislative Council.
(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 date the bill is reported
favorably from a committee, excluding Sundays.
(e) A bill with filed amendments subject to Subsection
(d) of this section is not eligible for consideration on second
reading until amendment packets have been made available to
members of the Senate for at least 24 hours.
(f) Subsections (d) and (e) of this section do not apply
after the 122nd day of the regular session, nor to a bill that
originates in the House of Representatives during a called
session.
SECTION 5. AUTHORITY; CONFLICT OF RULES. The Senate
adopts these redistricting rules and procedures under the
authority of Section 11, Article III, 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 11, 2023,
by the following vote: Yeas 31,
Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
Establishing redistricting rules for the 88th Legislature.