By: Hirschi H.B. No. 1910
73R2100 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to redistricting by the Texas Ethics Commission, judicial
1-3 review of redistricting plans, and restrictions on members of and
1-4 membership on the commission.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 304, Acts of the 72nd Legislature,
1-7 Regular Session, 1991 (Article 6252-9d.1, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-8 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 1.04 to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 1.04. QUALIFICATIONS. To protect the integrity of the
1-10 commission's redistricting activities, the following persons are
1-11 not eligible to serve on the commission:
1-12 (1) a person holding federal, state, or local elective
1-13 or appointive office;
1-14 (2) a person related in the second degree by
1-15 consanguinity or within the first degree by affinity to a person
1-16 described by Subdivision (1) of this section;
1-17 (3) an employee of the legislature, of a member of the
1-18 legislature, or of a legislative agency; or
1-19 (4) a person required to register as a lobbyist under
1-20 Section 305.003(a)(2), Government Code.
1-21 SECTION 2. The Revised Statutes are amended by adding
1-22 Article 6252-9d.2 to read as follows:
1-23 Art. 6252-9d.2. REDISTRICTING BY ETHICS COMMISSION
1-24 PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
2-1 Sec. 1.01. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this article:
2-2 (1) "Census" means the federal decennial census.
2-3 (2) "Commission" means the Texas Ethics Commission.
2-4 (b) For purposes of this section, the census is published
2-5 when the official detailed population counts of the census are
2-6 delivered as provided by law to an official of this state.
2-7 Sec. 1.02. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE. This article applies to
2-8 the redistricting of the districts used to elect:
2-9 (1) this state's members of the United States House of
2-10 Representatives;
2-11 (2) members of the Texas House of Representatives and
2-12 Texas Senate; and
2-13 (3) members of the State Board of Education.
2-14 Sec. 1.03. HOUSE AND SENATE CONSIDERED TOGETHER. For
2-15 purposes of this article, the redistricting plans for the Texas
2-16 House of Representatives and the Texas Senate are considered
2-17 together as a single plan.
2-18 Sec. 1.04. TECHNICAL SUPPORT. (a) The commission shall
2-19 secure computer and other technical support for redistricting under
2-20 this article.
2-21 (b) The computer must be located on premises of the
2-22 commission. The commission shall provide security to prohibit
2-23 unauthorized access to the computer and other redistricting
2-24 facilities and materials.
2-25 (c) The commission shall complete its technical preparations
2-26 for redistricting, including the programming and testing of
2-27 computer support, on or before December 31 of the year in which the
3-1 census is taken.
3-2 Sec. 1.05. COMMISSION MEMBER INELIGIBLE TO BECOME CANDIDATE.
3-3 A member of the commission serving at any time between the date the
3-4 census is published and the date the commission adopts a
3-5 redistricting plan under this article pursuant to that census may
3-6 not become a candidate in any district under that plan during the
3-7 four years following the date the commission adopts the plan.
3-8 PART 2. PROCEDURES
3-9 Sec. 2.01. RULES. (a) The commission shall adopt rules for
3-10 the administration of its redistricting activities.
3-11 (b) The commission shall hold public hearings in each region
3-12 of this state as necessary to provide all interested persons a
3-13 reasonable opportunity to comment on its proposed rules before the
3-14 commission adopts its final rules for each decade's redistricting.
3-15 (c) The commission shall adopt its final rules for each
3-16 decade's redistricting before January 1 of the year in which the
3-17 census is to be taken.
3-18 (d) The commission may make additional revisions to its
3-19 rules during the year in which the census is taken.
3-20 Sec. 2.02. ADOPTION OF PLANS. (a) The commission shall
3-21 propose a preliminary plan for each body for which the commission
3-22 is required to adopt a redistricting plan before the next June 1
3-23 that follows the publication of the census.
3-24 (b) The commission shall hold public hearings around the
3-25 state after the date on which the commission proposes a preliminary
3-26 plan and the next July 15 following that date to solicit comment on
3-27 the plan.
4-1 (c) The commission shall adopt a final plan for each body
4-2 before the August 1 following the publication of the census.
4-3 (d) If the census is published later than April 1, the
4-4 commission by rule may adopt a different schedule to provide an
4-5 appropriate timetable to comply with the requirements of this
4-6 section.
4-7 Sec. 2.03. NEW PLANS AFTER JUDICIAL REVIEW. If the Supreme
4-8 Court of Texas pursuant to Part 4 of this article issues an order
4-9 holding that a plan adopted by the commission violates state law,
4-10 the commission shall propose a new plan to remedy the violations
4-11 found by the court not later than the 30th day after the date of
4-12 the court's decision. The commission shall hold at least one
4-13 public hearing in Austin on the new proposed plan and adopt a new
4-14 plan to remedy the violations not later than the 60th day after the
4-15 date of the court's decision.
4-16 Sec. 2.04. OTHER NECESSARY CHANGES. The commission may make
4-17 changes to an adopted plan at any time as necessary to correct a
4-18 legal or technical deficiency in the plan as determined by the
4-19 commission.
4-20 PART 3. STANDARDS GOVERNING PLANS
4-21 Sec. 3.01. POPULATION EQUALITY. (a) Districts for members
4-22 of the United States House of Representatives must be as equal in
4-23 population as practicable.
4-24 (b) The population of a district in any plan may not be more
4-25 than 105 percent or less than 95 percent of the ideal district
4-26 population.
4-27 (c) The average of the relative population deviations of all
5-1 districts in a plan may not exceed two percent. For purposes of
5-2 this subsection, the relative population deviation of a district is
5-3 the percentage that the difference between the district's
5-4 population and the ideal district population, disregarding whether
5-5 that difference is positive or negative, represents as a part of
5-6 the ideal district population.
5-7 (d) In this subsection, "population" means population
5-8 according to the census.
5-9 Sec. 3.02. MINORITY VOTING RIGHTS. (a) Each plan must
5-10 maintain existing levels of the voting strength of a racial or
5-11 language minority group.
5-12 (b) Each plan must protect the voting rights of any group as
5-13 guaranteed by federal law.
5-14 Sec. 3.03. INTEGRITY OF POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS. (a) A
5-15 county or municipality with a population that does not exceed 105
5-16 percent of the ideal district population must be located entirely
5-17 in a single district.
5-18 (b) A county or municipality with a population greater than
5-19 105 percent of the ideal district population must contain as many
5-20 whole districts as the population of the county or municipality
5-21 permits, and the excess population of the county or municipality
5-22 not contained in those whole districts may not be located in more
5-23 than one other district.
5-24 (c) The commission may violate Subsection (a) or (b) of this
5-25 section if necessary to comply with Section 3.01 or 3.02 of this
5-26 article. If it is necessary to divide a county or municipality to
5-27 comply with Section 3.01 or 3.02 of this article, the commission
6-1 shall divide the county or municipality with the largest population
6-2 possible.
6-3 Sec. 3.04. CONTIGUITY AND COMPACTNESS. (a) All the
6-4 territory of each district must be contiguous with the rest of the
6-5 district. Two areas that contact each other at a single point are
6-6 not considered contiguous with each other.
6-7 (b) There must be convenient transportation among all areas
6-8 of each district that are located in different counties or
6-9 municipalities.
6-10 (c) The total length of the boundaries of all districts in a
6-11 plan must be as short as possible.
6-12 Sec. 3.05. HOUSE DISTRICTS WITHIN SENATE DISTRICTS. Each
6-13 district of the Texas Senate must contain five whole districts of
6-14 the Texas House of Representatives.
6-15 Sec. 3.06. PARTISAN VOTING AND INCUMBENCY NOT CONSIDERED.
6-16 (a) The commission may not draw a district for the purpose of
6-17 favoring a political party, incumbent officer, or other person or
6-18 group, except as required to comply with Section 3.02 of this
6-19 article.
6-20 (b) The commission may not consider the address of an
6-21 incumbent officer or other individual in drawing a plan.
6-22 (c) Unless necessary to comply with Section 3.02 of this
6-23 article, the commission may not consider previous election results
6-24 or other electoral information in drawing a plan.
6-25 PART 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW
6-26 Sec. 4.01. SUBMISSION TO SUPREME COURT. (a) The commission
6-27 shall submit the first redistricting plan adopted after the census
7-1 for each body for which the commission is required to redistrict to
7-2 the Supreme Court of Texas for review immediately after adopting
7-3 the plan.
7-4 (b) The commission shall submit any other adopted
7-5 redistricting plan or change to a plan to the supreme court for
7-6 review immediately if any citizen of this state petitions the
7-7 commission to do so on or before the 30th day after the date the
7-8 commission adopts the plan.
7-9 Sec. 4.02. COURT ACTION. The Supreme Court of Texas shall
7-10 determine whether a plan or change complies with the laws of this
7-11 state and issue a written order of its determination not later than
7-12 the 60th day after the date the plan or change is submitted by the
7-13 commission. If the court finds a plan or change to be invalid, the
7-14 court shall state its reasons for that finding and describe as
7-15 specifically as possible the changes or kinds of changes that would
7-16 be required to make the plan or change valid.
7-17 Sec. 4.03. REMEDIES EXCLUSIVE. A redistricting plan or
7-18 change that has been approved by the Supreme Court of Texas under
7-19 this article or for which the period for submission to that court
7-20 for review pursuant to a citizen petition has expired without the
7-21 filing of a petition is considered to comply with the law of this
7-22 state and may not be challenged in any court of this state.
7-23 PART 5. IMPLEMENTING PLAN
7-24 Sec. 5.01. PRECLEARANCE UNDER VOTING RIGHTS ACT. The
7-25 commission is responsible for submission of an adopted plan or
7-26 change to a plan for preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting
7-27 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Section 1973c), if applicable.
8-1 Sec. 5.02. PLAN EFFECTIVE AT NEXT ELECTION. (a) A plan or
8-2 change in a plan that is approved by the Supreme Court of Texas
8-3 under this article or for which the period for submission to that
8-4 court pursuant to citizen petition has expired without the filing
8-5 of a petition, and that may be implemented under Section 5 of the
8-6 Voting Rights Act of 1965, shall be used for the next election for
8-7 offices under that plan for which the last date provided by law for
8-8 filing as a candidate in the primary election is at least 10 days
8-9 after the later of the following:
8-10 (1) the date the supreme court approves the plan or
8-11 change or the time for filing a citizen petition expires; or
8-12 (2) the earliest date the plan or change may be
8-13 implemented under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
8-14 (b) Until a new plan adopted by the commission takes effect
8-15 under Subsection (a) of this section, the plan in effect for the
8-16 preceding election shall be used for elections to the body covered
8-17 by the plan.
8-18 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect only if the constitutional
8-19 amendment providing for redistricting by the Texas Ethics
8-20 Commission proposed by the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993,
8-21 is approved by the voters. If that proposed constitutional
8-22 amendment is not approved, this Act has no effect.
8-23 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
8-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.