By Pitts                                        H.J.R. No. 28

      75R915 JSA-D                           

                                 A JOINT RESOLUTION

 1-1     proposing a constitutional amendment to require certain counties to

 1-2     be contained wholly within a single congressional district.

 1-3           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by

 1-5     adding Section 28a to read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 28a.   (a)  The legislature in adopting the districts

 1-7     from which the members of the United States House of

 1-8     Representatives from this state are elected may not include a

 1-9     county having a population of less than 125,000 according to the

1-10     most recent federal decennial census in more than one district.

1-11           (b)  If it is necessary to include portions of a county

1-12     covered by Subsection (a) of this section in more than one

1-13     congressional district to comply with federal law, only the minimum

1-14     number of counties covered by Subsection (a) necessary to comply

1-15     with federal law may be included in more than one congressional

1-16     district.

1-17           (c)  This section applies only to a redistricting of the

1-18     state's congressional districts that is made on or after the date

1-19     the federal census for this state for the year 2000 is published.

1-20     This subsection expires January 1, 2005.

1-21           SECTION 2.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be

1-22     submitted to the voters at an election to be held on November 4,

1-23     1997.  The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or

1-24     against the following proposition: "The constitutional amendment to

 2-1     require each county with a population of less than 125,000 to be

 2-2     included wholly within a single congressional district."