By Shields                                      H.J.R. No. 85

      75R3245 JSA-D                           

                                 A JOINT RESOLUTION

 1-1     proposing a constitutional amendment to create the Texas

 1-2     Redistricting Commission and to revise the constitutional

 1-3     redistricting provisions.

 1-4           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by

 1-6     adding Section 28a to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 28a.  (a)  The Texas Redistricting Commission exercises

 1-8     the legislative authority of this state to adopt redistricting

 1-9     plans for the election of the Texas House of Representatives, Texas

1-10     Senate, and members of the United States House of Representatives

1-11     elected from this state.  Districts for those legislative bodies

1-12     may not be established or changed except as provided by this

1-13     section.

1-14           (b)  The commission consists of five members selected as

1-15     follows:

1-16                 (1)  one member appointed by the lieutenant governor;

1-17                 (2)  one member appointed by the senate leader of the

1-18     party caucus of the senators belonging to the political party,

1-19     other than the political party to which the lieutenant governor

1-20     belonged when elected to that office, that has the most members in

1-21     the Texas Senate;

1-22                 (3)  one member appointed by the speaker of the house

1-23     of representatives;

1-24                 (4)  one member appointed by the house leader of the

 2-1     party caucus of the representatives belonging to the political

 2-2     party, other than the political party to which the speaker of the

 2-3     house belonged when elected to the house, that has the most members

 2-4     in the Texas House of Representatives; and

 2-5                 (5)  one member selected as provided by Subsection (c)

 2-6     of this section who serves as presiding officer of the commission.

 2-7           (c)  The members of the commission appointed under

 2-8     Subsections (b)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section shall appoint

 2-9     the fifth member of the commission from a list consisting of the

2-10     nominees submitted by the four initial members of the commission.

2-11     The initial members of the commission from each political party

2-12     shall jointly nominate two persons.  If one person is nominated by

2-13     the commission members of more than one political party, that

2-14     person is automatically selected as the fifth member of the

2-15     commission.  If more than one person is nominated by the commission

2-16     members of more than one political party, one of those nominees

2-17     shall be chosen by lot as the fifth member of the commission.  If

2-18     no person is nominated by the commission members of more than one

2-19     political party, the four members of the commission shall appoint

2-20     the fifth member from the list of nominees by secret ballot.  A

2-21     nominee is appointed if the person receives the votes of three

2-22     members.  If the fifth member of the commission is not appointed by

2-23     the other members of the commission on or before the seventh day

2-24     after the first day on which the first four members of the

2-25     commission have all been appointed and taken the constitutional

2-26     oath of office, the governor shall select the fifth member of the

2-27     commission from the list of nominees made under this subsection.

 3-1           (d)  The members of the commission appointed under

 3-2     Subsections (b)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section shall be

 3-3     appointed as soon as practicable, but not later than the 10th day,

 3-4     after the date the legislature convenes in regular session in each

 3-5     year ending in one.  The person making each of those appointments

 3-6     shall certify the appointment to the secretary of state not later

 3-7     than the fifth day after the date the appointment is made.  The

 3-8     term of a member of the commission expires on the day the

 3-9     legislature convenes in regular session in the next year ending in

3-10     one after the year in which the member is appointed.

3-11           (e)  A member of the commission appointed under Subsection

3-12     (b)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section must be a former member of

3-13     the supreme court or court of criminal appeals who is not serving

3-14     as an elected judge at the time of the person's appointment.  If

3-15     there are fewer than four former members of one of those courts

3-16     available and willing to serve, a member of the commission

3-17     appointed under Subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section

3-18     may be a former judge of a court of appeals of this state who is

3-19     not serving as an elected judge at the time of appointment.  The

3-20     member of the commission appointed under Subsection (c) of this

3-21     section must be a former member of the supreme court who is not

3-22     serving as an elected judge at the time of the appointment.  If no

3-23     former member of the supreme court is available and willing to

3-24     serve, the member of the commission appointed under Subsection (c)

3-25     of this section may be a former member of the court of criminal

3-26     appeals or a court of appeals of this state who is not serving as

3-27     an elected judge at the time of the appointment.  For purposes of

 4-1     this section, a person is not considered a former member of the

 4-2     supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals

 4-3     unless the person was elected to that office.

 4-4           (f)  A person is not eligible to serve on the commission if

 4-5     the person:

 4-6                 (1)  is a member of the legislature or the United

 4-7     States House of Representatives;

 4-8                 (2)  is an employee or officer of:

 4-9                       (A)  the legislature, either house of the

4-10     legislature, a member of the legislature, or any office or agency

4-11     in the legislative branch; or

4-12                       (B)  the United States House of Representatives

4-13     or a member of the house of representatives; or

4-14                 (3)  has served in a position described by Subdivision

4-15     (1) or (2) of this subsection within three years preceding the date

4-16     the person is appointed to the commission.

4-17           (g)  A vacancy on the commission is filled in the same manner

4-18     as the original appointment to the vacant position.  If the vacancy

4-19     occurs before the commission adopts the initial redistricting plans

4-20     the board is required to adopt or at any other time when the

4-21     commission is convened, the vacancy shall be filled not later than

4-22     the fifth day after the date the vacancy occurs.  If a vacancy

4-23     occurs when the commission is not convened, the vacancy may not be

4-24     filled until the commission reconvenes, in which event it shall be

4-25     filled in the same manner as the original appointment to the vacant

4-26     position not later than the fifth day after the date the commission

4-27     reconvenes.

 5-1           (h)  The commission shall convene as soon as practicable

 5-2     after all five members of the commission have been  initially

 5-3     appointed.  A majority of the members of the commission constitutes

 5-4     a quorum.

 5-5           (i)  The commission shall hold its meetings at times and

 5-6     places convenient for the attendance and participation of the

 5-7     general public.  The commission shall hold at least three public

 5-8     hearings in different parts of the state before adopting a plan.

 5-9     The commission shall, to the extent practicable in the

5-10     circumstances, consider plans and districts submitted by members of

5-11     the general public.

5-12           (j)  A redistricting plan or  modification of a redistricting

5-13     plan is adopted by a vote of not less than three members of the

5-14     commission.  The commission shall file a plan or modification

5-15     adopted by the commission with the secretary of state.  A plan

5-16     adopted by the commission may not be modified or superseded before

5-17     the publication of the next federal decennial census except as

5-18     provided by Subsection (m) of this section or by appropriate court

5-19     order.

5-20           (k)  The commission shall adopt a redistricting plan for each

5-21     legislative body for which it is required to adopt a plan  not

5-22     later than September 1 of the year in which the federal decennial

5-23     census counts for this state are delivered to the appropriate state

5-24     officials, unless those counts are delivered after June 1, in which

5-25     event the commission shall adopt those plans not later than the

5-26     90th day after the date the census counts are delivered.  Any

5-27     member of the commission may propose a plan for formal

 6-1     consideration by the commission.  If the commission does not adopt

 6-2     a plan for one of those legislative bodies in the time provided,

 6-3     the supreme court not later than the 60th day after the last date

 6-4     provided by this section for commission action shall adopt a plan

 6-5     for the appropriate legislative body.  If one or more plans

 6-6     formally considered by the commission for that legislative body

 6-7     received two votes, the supreme court shall adopt one of those

 6-8     plans as the state's plan.  Otherwise, the supreme court shall

 6-9     adopt a plan from among any of the plans for that legislative body

6-10     formally considered by the commission.

6-11           (l)  After adopting the initial plans the commission is

6-12     required to adopt, the commission shall adjourn and suspend

6-13     operations until the commission reconvenes, if necessary, under

6-14     Subsection (m) of this section.  When the commission is adjourned,

6-15     the lieutenant governor and speaker of the house, under the

6-16     direction of the presiding officer of the commission, shall provide

6-17     for maintenance of the commission's records and for the performance

6-18     of other functions related to the commission.

6-19           (m)  The commission shall reconvene to modify a plan or adopt

6-20     a new plan as soon as practicable whenever a redistricting plan

6-21     previously adopted under this section  has been held to be invalid

6-22     or unenforceable by a court or other appropriate authority.  In

6-23     modifying a redistricting plan, the commission must comply with all

6-24     applicable standards imposed by this section, other provisions of

6-25     this constitution, and laws enacted under this section but is not

6-26     restricted to modifications necessary to correct legal

6-27     deficiencies.  After adopting a modification or replacement plan,

 7-1     the commission shall adjourn.

 7-2           (n)  In a redistricting plan or modification of a plan

 7-3     adopted by the commission:

 7-4                 (1)  each district must contain a population as nearly

 7-5     equal as practicable to the population of any other district in the

 7-6     plan, consistent with federal law and this constitution; and

 7-7                 (2)  to the extent reasonable, each district must

 7-8     contain contiguous territory and be compact.

 7-9           (o)  The commission may not draw a redistricting plan

7-10     purposely to favor or discriminate against any racial, language, or

7-11     ethnic group.

7-12           (p)  To the extent practicable and consistent with other

7-13     requirements of this section or other law, the commission shall

7-14     draw districts to preserve continuity of representation from one

7-15     plan to the next.

7-16           (q)  The legislature shall appropriate funds to enable the

7-17     commission to carry out its duties and shall provide the commission

7-18     with reasonable staff, office space, equipment, and other

7-19     facilities to enable the commission to perform its duties.  The

7-20     commission may request assistance from any state office or agency

7-21     or from a political subdivision of this state, and the office,

7-22     agency, or political subdivision shall provide that assistance to

7-23     the extent practicable.

7-24           (r)  This section takes effect January 1, 2001.  While this

7-25     section is in effect, Section 28 of this article has no effect, and

7-26     the Legislative Redistricting Board may not exercise any power

7-27     under this constitution.  The commission established by this

 8-1     section shall exercise the duties of the Legislative Redistricting

 8-2     Board under Section 7a, Article V, of this constitution.

 8-3           (s)  This section expires January 1, 2011, unless before that

 8-4     date the legislature by resolution adopted by each house and

 8-5     approved under Section 15, Article IV, of this constitution

 8-6     provides that this section shall become a permanent part of this

 8-7     constitution.  If the legislature so provides that this section

 8-8     shall become a permanent part of this constitution, on January 1,

 8-9     2011:

8-10                 (1)  this subsection expires; and

8-11                 (2)  Section 28 of this article is repealed.

8-12           SECTION 2.  Section 26a, Article III, Texas Constitution, is

8-13     repealed.

8-14           SECTION 3.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be

8-15     submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 4, 1997.

8-16     The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the

8-17     following proposition: "The constitutional amendment to reform  the

8-18     state's redistricting process and to establish the Texas

8-19     Redistricting Commission to draw legislative and congressional

8-20     districts."