AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Though the Texas Legislature remains confident that the legislatively drawn maps adopted in 2011 are fair and legal and comply with all provisions of federal law, there remain several outstanding legal questions regarding these maps that undermine the stability and predictability of the electoral process in Texas. As such, the Texas Legislature should ratify, as permanent maps, the interim state house, senate, and congressional maps exactly as drawn and implemented by the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on February 28, 2012, which the court presumably ordered because they comply with the Voting Rights Act and the United States Constitution. Adopting these interim maps avoids further expenditures of time and money, by all parties, in conjunction with ongoing litigation regarding the state house, senate, and congressional redistricting plans enacted by the 82nd Legislature.  It also avoids disruption to future election cycles and provides certainty to Texans regarding their legislative districts and the electoral process.

 

S.B. 3 amends current law relating to the composition of districts for the election of members of the Texas House of Representatives.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

ARTICLE I

 

SECTION 1.  (a) Provides that the members of the Texas House of Representatives are elected from the districts described by Article II of this Act.

 

(b) Provides that one member is elected from each district established by this Act.

 

ARTICLE II

 

SECTION 1.  Provides that District 1 is composed of Bowie, Franklin, Lamar and Red River Counties.

 

SECTION 2.  Provides that District 2 is composed of Hopkins, Hunt and Van Zandt Counties.

 

SECTION 3.  Provides that District 3 is composed of Waller County and certain tracts and blocks of Montgomery County.

 

SECTION 4.  Provides that District 4 is composed of Kaufman County and certain tracts and blocks of Henderson County.

 

SECTION 5.  Provides that District 5 is composed of Camp, Morris, Rains, Titus and Wood Counties and certain tracts and blocks of Smith County.

 

SECTION 6.  Provides that District 6 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Smith County.

 

SECTION 7.  Provides that District 7 is composed of Gregg and Upshur Counties.

 

SECTION 8.  Provides that District 8 is composed of Anderson, Freestone, Hill and Navarro Counties.

 

SECTION 9.  Provides that District 9 is composed of Cass, Harrison, Marion, Panola, Sabine and Shelby Counties.

 

SECTION 10.  Provides that District 10 is composed of Ellis County and certain tracts and blocks of Henderson County.

 

SECTION 11.  Provides that District 11 is composed of Cherokee, Nacogdoches and Rusk Counties.

 

SECTION 12.  Provides that District 12 is composed of Falls, Limestone and Robertson Counties and certain tracts and blocks of Brazos and McLennan Counties.

 

SECTION 13.  Provides that District 13 is composed of Austin, Burleson, Colorado, Fayette, Grimes, Lavaca and Washington Counties.

 

SECTION 14.  Provides that District 14 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Brazos County.

 

SECTION 15.  Provides that District 15 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Montgomery County.

 

SECTION 16.  Provides that District 16 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Montgomery County.

 

SECTION 17.  Provides that District 17 is composed of Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes and Lee Counties.

 

SECTION 18.  Provides that District 18 is composed of Liberty, San Jacinto and Walker Counties.

 

SECTION 19.  Provides that District 19 is composed of Hardin, Jasper, Newton, Polk and Tyler Counties.

 

SECTION 20.  Provides that District 20 is composed of Burnet and Milam Counties and certain tracts and blocks of Williamson County.

 

SECTION 21.  Provides that District 21 is composed of Orange County and certain tracts and blocks of Jefferson County.

 

SECTION 22.  Provides that District 22 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Jefferson County.

 

SECTION 23.  Provides that District 23 is composed of Chambers County and certain tracts and blocks of Galveston County.

 

SECTION 24. Provides that District 24 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Galveston County.

 

SECTION 25.  Provides that District 25 is composed of Matagorda County and certain tracts and blocks of Brazoria County.

 

SECTION 26.  Provides that District 26 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Fort Bend County.

 

 

SECTION 27.  Provides that District 27 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Fort Bend County.

 

SECTION 28.  Provides that District 28 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Fort Bend County.

 

SECTION 29.  Provides that District 29 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Brazoria County.

 

SECTION 30.  Provides that District 30 is composed of Aransas, Calhoun, De Witt, Goliad, Refugio and Victoria Counties.

 

SECTION 31.  Provides that District 31 is composed of Atascosa, Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, Starr and Willacy Counties.

 

SECTION 32.  Provides that District 32 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Nueces County.

 

SECTION 33.  Provides that District 33 is composed of Rockwell County and certain tracts and blocks of Collin County.

 

SECTION 34.  Provides that District 34 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Nueces County.

 

SECTION 35.  Provides that District 35 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Cameron and Hidalgo Counties.

 

SECTION 36.  Provides that District 36 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Hidalgo County.

 

SECTION 37.  Provides that District 37 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Cameron County.

 

SECTION 38.  Provides that District 38 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Cameron County.

 

SECTION 39.  Provides that District 39 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Hidalgo County.

 

SECTION 40.  Provides that District 40 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Hidalgo County.

 

SECTION 41.  Provides that District 41 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Hidalgo County.

 

SECTION 42.  Provides that District 42 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Webb County.

 

SECTION 43.  Provides that District 43 is composed of Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg and San Patricio Counties.

 

SECTION 44.  Provides that District 44 is composed of Guadalupe and Wilson Counties.

 

SECTION 45.  Provides that District 45 is composed of Blanco and Hays Counties.

 

SECTION 46.  Provides that District 46 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Travis County.

 

SECTION 47.  Provides that District 47 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Travis County.

 

SECTION 48.  Provides that District 48 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Travis County.

 

SECTION 49.  Provides that District 49 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Travis County.

 

SECTION 50.  Provides that District 50 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Travis County.

 

SECTION 51.  Provides that District 51 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Travis County.

 

SECTION 52.  Provides that District 52 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Williamson County.

 

SECTION 53.  Provides that District 53 is composed of Bandera, Crockett, Edwards, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, Medina, Menard, Real, Schleicher and Sutton Counties.

 

SECTION 54.  Provides that District 54 is composed of Lampasas County and certain tracts and blocks of Bell County.

 

SECTION 55.  Provides that District 55 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bell County.

 

SECTION 56.  Provides that District 56 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of McLennan County.

 

SECTION 57.  Provides that District 57 is composed of Angelina, Houston, Leon, Madison, San Augustine and Trinity Counties.

 

SECTION 58.  Provides that District 58 is composed of Bosque and Johnson Counties.

 

SECTION 59.  Provides that District 59 is composed of Comanche, Coryell, Erath, Hamilton, McCulloch, Mills, San Saba and Somervell Counties.

 

SECTION 60.  Provides that District 60 is composed of Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Eastland, Hood, Palo Pinto, Shackelford and Stephens Counties.

 

SECTION 61.  Provides that District 61 is composed of Parker and Wise Counties.

 

SECTION 62.  Provides that District 62 is composed of Delta, Fannin and Grayson Counties.

 

SECTION 63.  Provides that District 63 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Denton County.

 

SECTION 64.  Provides that District 64 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Denton County.

 

SECTION 65.  Provides that District 65 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Denton County.

 

SECTION 66.  Provides that District 66 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Collin County.

 

SECTION 67.  Provides that District 67 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Collin County.

 

SECTION 68.  Provides that Section 68 is composed of Childress, Collingsworth, Cooke, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens, Fisher, Floyd, Garza, Hall, Hardeman, Haskell, Jack, Kent, King, Montague, Motley, Stonewall, Throckmorton, Wheeler, Wilbarger and Young Counties.

 

SECTION 69.  Provides that Section 69 is composed of Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Knox and Wichita Counties.

 

SECTION 70.  Provides that District 70 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Collin County.

 

SECTION 71.  Provides that District 71 is composed of Jones, Nolan and Taylor Counties.

 

SECTION 72.  Provides that District 72 is composed of Coke, Concho, Glasscock, Howard, Irion, Reagan, Runnels, Sterling and Tom Green Counties.

 

SECTION 73.  Provides that District 73 is composed of Comal, Gillespie and Kendall Counties.

 

SECTION 74.  Provides that District 74 is composed of Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kinney, Loving, Maverick, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell and Val Verde Counties.

 

SECTION 75. Provides that District 75 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of El Paso County.

 

SECTION 76.  Provides that District 76 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of El Paso County.

 

SECTION 77.  Provides that District 77 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of El Paso County.

 

SECTION 78.  Provides that District 78 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of El Paso County.

 

SECTION 79.  Provides that District 79 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of El Paso County.

 

SECTION 80.  Provides that District 80 is composed of Dimmit, Frio, Uvalde, Zapata and Zavala Counties and certain tracts and blocks of Webb County.

 

SECTION 81.  Provides that District 81 is composed of Andrews, Ector, Ward and Winkler Counties.

 

SECTION 82.  Provides that District 82 is composed of Crane, Dawson, Martin, Midland and Upton Counties.

 

SECTION 83.  Provides that District 83 is composed of Borden, Gaines, Lynn, Mitchell, Scurry and Terry Counties and certain tracts and blocks of Lubbock County.

 

SECTION 84.  Provides that District 84 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Lubbock County.

 

SECTION 85.  Provides that District 85 is composed of Jackson and Wharton Counties and certain tracts and blocks of Fort Bend County.

 

SECTION 86.  Provides that District 86 is composed of Dallam, Deaf Smith, Hartley, Oldham, Parmer and Randall Counties.

 

SECTION 87.  Provides that District 87 is composed of Carson, Hutchinson, Moore, Potter and Sherman Counties.

 

SECTION 88.  Provides that District 88 is composed of Armstrong, Bailey, Briscoe, Castro, Cochran, Donley, Gray, Hale, Hansford, Hemphill, Hockley, Lamb, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, Swisher and Yoakum Counties.

 

SECTION 89.  Provides that District 89 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Collin County.

 

SECTION 90.  Provides that District 90 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 91.  Provides that District 91 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 92.  Provides that District 92 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 93.  Provides that District 93 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 94.  Provides that District 94 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 95.  Provides that District 95 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 96.  Provides that District 96 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 97.  Provides that District 97 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 98.  Provides that District 98 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 99.  Provides that District 99 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 100.  Provides that District 100 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 101.  Provides that District 101 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Tarrant County.

 

SECTION 102.  Provides that District 102 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 103.  Provides that District 103 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 104.  Provides that District 104 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 105.  Provides that District 105 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 106.  Provides that District 106 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Denton County.

 

SECTION 107.  Provides that District 107 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

SECTION 108.  Provides that District 108 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 109.  Provides that District 109 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 110.  Provides that District 110 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 111.  Provides that District 111 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 112.  Provides that District 112 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 113.  Provides that District 113 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 114.  Provides that District 114 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 115.  Provides that District 115 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Dallas County.

 

SECTION 116.  Provides that District 116 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 117.  Provides that District 117 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 118.  Provides that District 118 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 119.  Provides that District 119 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 120.  Provides that District 120 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 121.  Provides that District 121 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 122.  Provides that District 122 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 123.  Provides that District 123 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 124.  Provides that District 124 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 125.  Provides that District 125 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Bexar County.

 

SECTION 126.  Provides that District 126 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 127.  Provides that District 127 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 128.  Provides that District 128 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 129.  Provides that District 129 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 130.  Provides that District 130 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 131.  Provides that District 131 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 132.  Provides that District 132 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 133.  Provides that District 133 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 134.  Provides that District 134 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 135.  Provides that District 135 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 136.  Provides that District 136 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Williamson County.

 

SECTION 137.  Provides that District 137 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 138.  Provides that District 138 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 139.  Provides that District 139 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 140.  Provides that District 140 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 141.  Provides that District 141 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 142.  Provides that District 142 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 143.  Provides that District 143 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 144.  Provides that District 144 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 145.  Provides that District 145 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 146.  Provides that District 146 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 147.  Provides that District 147 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 148.  Provides that District 148 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 149.  Provides that District 149 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

SECTION 150.  Provides that District 150 is composed of certain tracts and blocks of Harris County.

 

ARTICLE III

 

SECTION 1.  Defines "tract," "block group," "and "block" for this Act.

 

SECTION 2.  Provides that it is the intention of the Texas 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.  Repealer: Chapter 1271 (H.B. 150) (relating to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the Texas House of Representatives), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011 (Article 195a-12, V.T.C.S.).

 

SECTION 4.  Provides that the districts set out in this Act apply to the election of the members of the Texas House of Representatives beginning with the primary and general elections in 2014 for members of the 84th Legislature.  Provides that this Act does not affect the membership or districts of the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas Legislature.

 

SECTION 5.  Effective date: upon passage or the 91st day after the last day of the legislative session.