Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR135 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R2831 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Anchía H.J.R. No. 135
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7	7	A JOINT RESOLUTION
8	8	proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas
9	9	Redistricting Commission to redistrict the Texas Legislature and
10	10	Texas congressional districts and revising procedures for
11	11	redistricting.
12	12	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by
14	14	adding Section 28a to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 28a. (a) The Texas Redistricting Commission exercises
16	16	the legislative authority of this state to adopt redistricting
17	17	plans for the election of the Texas House of Representatives, the
18	18	Texas Senate, and the members of the United States House of
19	19	Representatives elected from this state. Districts for those
20	20	legislative bodies may not be established or changed except as
21	21	provided by this section.
22	22	(b) The commission consists of seven members selected as
23	23	follows:
24	24	(1) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
25	25	Senate with the most seniority, as defined by senate rules;
26	26	(2) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
27	27	Senate with the most seniority, as defined by senate rules, who is
28	28	of a different political party than the member described by
29	29	Subdivision (1) of this subsection;
30	30	(3) 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;
33	33	(4) one member appointed by the member of the Texas
34	34	House of Representatives with the most seniority, as defined by
35	35	house rules, who is of a different political party than the member
36	36	described by Subdivision (3) of this subsection;
37	37	(5) one member appointed by an affirmative vote of not
38	38	fewer than three of the members of the commission selected under
39	39	Subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection; and
40	40	(6) two members appointed by the member appointed
41	41	under Subdivision (5) of this subsection who must be retired
42	42	federal judges appointed to the federal bench by presidents of
43	43	different political parties.
44	44	(c) The members of the commission shall appoint one of the
45	45	members to serve as presiding officer by an affirmative vote of a
46	46	majority of the members of the commission.
47	47	(d) Each member of the commission must be a resident of this
48	48	state and have relevant skills and abilities, including analytical
49	49	skills, the capacity for impartiality, and an appreciation for the
50	50	diverse demographics and geography of the state. A person is not
51	51	eligible to serve on the commission if the person:
52	52	(1) holds an elective or appointive public office,
53	53	other than the office of retired federal judge if the member is
54	54	appointed under Subsection (b)(6) of this section or an office on
55	55	the governing body of a school district;
56	56	(2) holds an office in a political party;
57	57	(3) is employed by:
58	58	(A) an elected or appointed public official;
59	59	(B) a candidate for the legislature or the United
60	60	States Congress; or
61	61	(C) an entity whose principal purpose is to
62	62	support or oppose a candidate described by Paragraph (B) of this
63	63	subdivision;
64	64	(4) has served in a position described by Subdivision
65	65	(1), (2), or (3) of this subsection within the three years preceding
66	66	the date the person is appointed to the commission;
67	67	(5) is required by law to register with the Texas
68	68	Ethics Commission on account of the person's communications with
69	69	state officers to influence legislation or administrative action,
70	70	or was required to register in that capacity in the three years
71	71	preceding the date the person was appointed to the commission; or
72	72	(6) is related to an elected or appointed public
73	73	official within the second degree by consanguinity, as determined
74	74	under general law governing consanguinity.
75	75	(e) The full term of a member of the commission is a 10-year
76	76	term that begins on February 1 of the year ending in 1 in which the
77	77	initial appointment to the position is required to be made and
78	78	expires on January 31 of the next year ending in 1. A vacancy on the
79	79	commission is filled in the same manner as provided by this section
80	80	for the original appointment.
81	81	(f) A member of the commission may not be a candidate in an
82	82	election for the Texas Senate or Texas House of Representatives
83	83	before the third anniversary of the date the commission adopts a
84	84	redistricting plan or modification of a plan for that body during
85	85	the person's service on the commission.
86	86	(g) A member of the Texas House of Representatives, the
87	87	Texas Senate, or the United States House of Representatives may not
88	88	have contact, directly or indirectly, with a redistricting
89	89	commission member or with redistricting commission staff, with
90	90	respect to redistricting, except by testimony in a public hearing.
91	91	Redistricting commission members may not engage in any discussions,
92	92	directly or indirectly, regarding redistricting or the work of the
93	93	redistricting commission with members of the Texas House of
94	94	Representatives, the Texas Senate, or the United States House of
95	95	Representatives, except during a public hearing or by written
96	96	communication given to the entire commission. If a redistricting
97	97	commission member engages in a prohibited discussion or violates
98	98	state law regarding public meetings, the commission may, by
99	99	majority vote, remove the member from the commission.
100	100	(h) A redistricting plan or modification of a redistricting
101	101	plan is adopted by a vote of not fewer than five members of the
102	102	commission.
103	103	(i) The members of the commission appointed under
104	104	Subsections (b)(1) through (4) of this section shall be appointed
105	105	not earlier than January 25 or later than January 31 of each year
106	106	ending in 1. The member appointed under Subsection (b)(5) of this
107	107	section shall be appointed not later than the 15th day after the
108	108	commission convenes under Subsection (k) of this section. The
109	109	members appointed under Subsection (b)(6) of this section shall be
110	110	appointed not later than the 15th day after the date of an
111	111	appointment under Subsection (b)(5) of this section.
112	112	(j) As soon as practicable after the commission convenes,
113	113	all members of the commission must attend training provided by a
114	114	legislative agency that has provided redistricting services to the
115	115	legislature. The training must include:
116	116	(1) information on the demographics and geography of
117	117	the state;
118	118	(2) the responsibilities of the commission;
119	119	(3) information on the redistricting process; and
120	120	(4) redistricting software training.
121	121	(k) The commission shall convene on the first business day
122	122	after January 31 of each year ending in 1 and shall adopt a
123	123	redistricting plan for the Texas Senate, the Texas House of
124	124	Representatives, and the members of the United States House of
125	125	Representatives elected from this state not later than July 1 of
126	126	that year, unless the federal decennial census is delivered to the
127	127	appropriate officials of this state after May 1 of that year, in
128	128	which event the commission shall adopt those redistricting plans
129	129	not later than the 90th day after the date the census is delivered.
130	130	(l) The commission shall reconvene to modify a
131	131	redistricting plan if the plan becomes unenforceable by order of a
132	132	court or by action of any other appropriate authority. In modifying
133	133	a redistricting plan, the commission must comply with all
134	134	applicable standards imposed by this section, other provisions of
135	135	this constitution, and laws enacted under this section but is not
136	136	limited to modifications necessary to correct legal deficiencies.
137	137	(m) In a redistricting plan or modification of a plan
138	138	adopted under this section, the commission shall consider the
139	139	following criteria, giving priority to each criterion in the order
140	140	listed:
141	141	(1) districts must be drawn in accordance with the
142	142	federal constitution and all applicable federal laws, including the
143	143	federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.);
144	144	(2) in addition to the requirements of federal law,
145	145	districts must be drawn in a manner that does not discriminate on
146	146	the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group
147	147	by ensuring the voting strength of racial, ethnic, and language
148	148	minorities in the districts is not diluted in a manner that deprives
149	149	minority voters of an equal opportunity to elect a candidate of
150	150	their choice;
151	151	(3) each district must be composed of contiguous
152	152	territory, and for purposes of this subdivision territory that is
153	153	adjoining only at a point is not considered contiguous;
154	154	(4) to the extent reasonable, district boundaries may
155	155	not divide a community of interest other than a community based on a
156	156	relationship with a political party or candidate for public office;
157	157	(5) to the extent reasonable, district boundaries must
158	158	coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions of the state
159	159	and divide the smallest number of counties, municipalities, and
160	160	school districts possible;
161	161	(6) each congressional district must contain a
162	162	population as nearly equal as possible to the population of any
163	163	other district in the plan; and
164	164	(7) in a redistricting plan for the Texas Senate or
165	165	Texas House of Representatives, the overall range of population
166	166	deviation from the district with the largest population to the
167	167	district with the smallest population may not exceed 2.5 percent.
168	168	(n) If a political subdivision must be divided, the
169	169	commission shall give preference to dividing a more populous
170	170	political subdivision before a less populous one. This subsection
171	171	does not apply to a boundary drawn along a county line that divides
172	172	a municipality.
173	173	(o) The commission may not draw a redistricting plan
174	174	purposely to favor or discriminate against a political party or any
175	175	other group.
176	176	(p) The commission shall provide a process by which the
177	177	public may comment on a proposed redistricting plan or proposed
178	178	modification of a plan. The commission shall consider those
179	179	comments in the adoption or modification of a redistricting plan.
180	180	(q) For a reasonable period before the commission considers
181	181	a redistricting plan, including a modification of a redistricting
182	182	plan, the commission shall make available to the public:
183	183	(1) a report that identifies for each district in the
184	184	plan:
185	185	(A) boundaries;
186	186	(B) population;
187	187	(C) racial and ethnic composition;
188	188	(D) compactness measure;
189	189	(E) divided governmental units; and
190	190	(F) political performance indexes; and
191	191	(2) the total number of:
192	192	(A) governmental units of each type that are
193	193	divided;
194	194	(B) politically balanced districts; and
195	195	(C) districts anticipated to lean toward each
196	196	political party.
197	197	(r) The legislature shall enact laws consistent with this
198	198	section to implement this section. The laws may include additional
199	199	qualifications for commission members and additional standards
200	200	applicable to redistricting plans.
201	201	(s) The legislature shall appropriate money or otherwise
202	202	provide the commission with sufficient facilities and personnel to
203	203	enable the commission to carry out its duties.
204	204	(t) This section takes effect January 1, 2031. On that
205	205	date, the Legislative Redistricting Board is abolished and Section
206	206	28 of this article is repealed. The Texas Redistricting Commission
207	207	shall convene for the first time on the first business day after
208	208	January 31, 2031. This subsection expires January 1, 2032.
209	209	SECTION 2. Section 7a, Article V, Texas Constitution, is
210	210	amended by amending Subsections (e) and (i) and adding Subsection
211	211	(j) to read as follows:
212	212	(e) Unless the legislature enacts a statewide
213	213	reapportionment of the judicial districts following each federal
214	214	decennial census, the board shall convene not later than the first
215	215	Monday of June of the third year following the year in which the
216	216	federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide
217	217	reapportionment of the districts. The board shall complete its
218	218	work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary of
219	219	state not later than August 31 of the same year. If the Judicial
220	220	Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by that
221	221	date, the Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board]
222	222	established by Section 28a, Article III, [Section 28,] of this
223	223	constitution shall convene on September 1 of the same year to make a
224	224	statewide reapportionment of the judicial districts not later than
225	225	the 90th [150th] day after the final day for the Judicial Districts
226	226	Board to make the reapportionment.
227	227	(i) The legislature, the Judicial Districts Board, or the
228	228	Texas [Legislative] Redistricting Commission [Board] may not
229	229	redistrict the judicial districts to provide for any judicial
230	230	district smaller in size than an entire county except as provided by
231	231	this section. Judicial districts smaller in size than the entire
232	232	county may be created subsequent to a general election where a
233	233	majority of the persons voting on the proposition adopt the
234	234	proposition "to allow the division of ____________ County into
235	235	judicial districts composed of parts of ____________ County." No
236	236	redistricting plan may be proposed or adopted by the legislature,
237	237	the Judicial Districts Board, or the Texas [Legislative]
238	238	Redistricting Commission [Board] in anticipation of a future action
239	239	by the voters of any county.
240	240	(j) Until January 1, 2031, a reference in this section to
241	241	the Texas Redistricting Commission means the Legislative
242	242	Redistricting Board established under Section 28, Article III, of
243	243	this constitution. This subsection expires January 1, 2031.
244	244	SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
245	245	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 4, 2025.
246	246	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
247	247	following proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing
248	248	the Texas Redistricting Commission to redistrict the Texas
249	249	Legislature and Texas congressional districts and revising
250	250	procedures for redistricting."