| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the composition of districts for the election of |
|
|
members of the Texas House of Representatives. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
ARTICLE I |
|
|
SECTION 1. (a) The members of the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives are elected from the districts described by Article |
|
|
II of this Act. |
|
|
(b) One member is elected from each district established by |
|
|
this Act. |
|
|
ARTICLE II |
|
|
SECTION 1. The districts for members of the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives are as described by PLANH2101 on the redistricting |
|
|
computer system operated by the Texas Legislative Council. |
|
|
ARTICLE III |
|
|
SECTION 1. In this Act, "tract," "block group," and "block" |
|
|
mean the geographic areas identified by those terms on the 2020 |
|
|
Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles, prepared by the federal Bureau of the |
|
|
Census for the Twenty-fourth Decennial Census of the United States, |
|
|
enumerated as of April 1, 2020. |
|
|
SECTION 2. It is the intent of the legislature that if any |
|
|
county, tract, block group, block, or other geographic area has |
|
|
erroneously been left out of this Act, a court reviewing this Act |
|
|
should include that area in the appropriate district in accordance |
|
|
with the intent of the legislature, using any available evidence of |
|
|
that intent, including evidence such as that used by the Supreme |
|
|
Court of Texas in Smith v. Patterson, 111 Tex. 535, 242 S.W. 749 |
|
|
(1922). |
|
|
SECTION 3. (a) This Act supersedes all previous enactments |
|
|
or orders adopting districts for the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives. All previous acts of the legislature adopting |
|
|
districts for the Texas House of Representatives are repealed. |
|
|
(b) Chapter 2 (S.B. 3), Acts of the 83rd Legislature, 1st |
|
|
Called Session, 2013 (Article 195a-13, Vernon's Texas Civil |
|
|
Statutes), is repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 4. The districts described by Article II of this Act |
|
|
apply to the election of the members of the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives beginning with the primary and general elections in |
|
|
2022 for members of the 88th Legislature. This Act does not affect |
|
|
the membership or districts of the House of Representatives of the |
|
|
87th Texas Legislature. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the |
|
|
legislative session. |