84R12677 JRJ-F

By: Anchia H.J.R. No. 133

A JOINT RESOLUTION

proposing a constitutional amendment to establish certain principles and procedures for the drawing of districts for the Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the United States House of Representatives.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 26, Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 26. The members of the House of Representatives shall be apportioned among districts of contiguous territory [the several counties, according to the number of population in each, as nearly as may be,] on a ratio obtained by dividing the population of the State, as ascertained by the most recent United States census, by the number of members of which the House is composed[; provided, that whenever a single county has sufficient population to be entitled to a Representative, such county shall be formed into a separate Representative District, and when two or more counties are required to make up the ratio of representation, such counties shall be contiguous to each other; and when any one county has more than sufficient population to be entitled to one or more Representatives, such Representative or Representatives shall be apportioned to such county, and for any surplus of population it may be joined in a Representative District with any other contiguous county or counties].

SECTION 2. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by adding Section 28a to read as follows:

Sec. 28a. (a) The legislature's authority established under Section 1 of this article includes the authority to adopt redistricting plans for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the members of the United States House of Representatives elected from this state after the publication of each United States decennial census.

(b) A plan for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the members of the United States House of Representatives elected from this state adopted by the legislature must conform to the following principles:

1. A plan shall respect the integrity of the state's basic geographic regions to the extent practicable.

2. A plan shall avoid unnecessarily dividing counties and municipalities in the formation of districts. District lines shall to the extent practicable be coterminous with the boundaries of these political subdivisions.

3. A plan shall to the extent practicable keep intact communities of interest defined by social, economic, racial, ethnic, cultural, industrial, commercial, and geographic commonalities.

4. A district shall be composed solely of undivided census tracts as the smallest unit of redistricting.

5. A district shall be geographically compact and composed of convenient contiguous territory.

6. A plan may not be drawn with consideration to partisan political effect or with intent to favor or disfavor any specific person, political party, or other organization.

7. A plan must comply with state and federal constitutional and statutory requirements, including the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.).

8. The districts in a plan must be equal in population as nearly as practicable in accordance with the other principles described by this subsection.

9. In addition to the requirements of federal law, districts must be drawn in a manner that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group by ensuring the voting strength of racial, ethnic, and language minorities in the districts is not diluted in a manner that deprives minority voters of an equal opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.

(c) The Supreme Court of Texas has original jurisdiction of a legal challenge to a plan enacted by the legislature.

(d) The legislature may not redistrict this state's districts adopted for the election of the Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the members of the United States House of Representatives elected from this state more than once following each census except to replace a plan ordered by a court with a plan enacted by the legislature.

SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 3, 2015. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the proposition: "The constitutional amendment to establish certain principles and procedures for the drawing of districts for the Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the United States House of Representatives."