By: Huffman S.R. No. 4
 
 
 
SENATE RESOLUTION
         BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Texas, That
  the following rules of procedure shall be observed by the Senate
  for the consideration of redistricting during the 87th
  Legislature:
         SECTION 1.  REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE.  (a)  The Special
  Committee on Redistricting is composed of members appointed by
  the President.  The President shall designate the chair and
  vice-chair from the total membership of the committee.
         (b)  Bills and resolutions relating to the composition of
  legislative, congressional, and state board of education
  districts shall be referred to the committee by the President.  
  Senate rules governing a motion to refer or commit are
  applicable, except that the special committee takes precedence
  over a standing committee when several motions are made.
         (c)  The committee shall have the same authority and
  powers granted to standing committees by Senate rules and by
  applicable statutes.  Where applicable the rules governing
  standing committees of the Senate apply to the committee's
  proceedings.  In case of any conflict, the procedures herein
  shall prevail over a conflicting Senate or committee rule.
         SECTION 2.  REGIONAL HEARINGS; VIDEOCONFERENCE
  TESTIMONY.  (a)  The committee shall hold regional hearings to
  solicit public input on redistricting, including local
  communities of interest.
         (b)  The committee may meet to conduct a regional hearing
  in any location in this state that the chair determines
  appropriate to encourage participation from all areas of the
  state.  The committee may allow the use of two-way
  videoconferencing to facilitate testimony from the general
  public during a regional hearing held in the Capitol.
         (c) A witness testifying by videoconference must be
  clearly visible and audible to the committee members.  A
  committee member questioning a witness by videoconference must
  be clearly visible and audible to the witness and the committee
  members.
         (d)  A witness testifying by videoconference must submit a
  witness affirmation form before testifying.
         (e)  The chair may provide procedures for the orderly
  participation of witnesses and may reasonably limit the time for
  registration of witnesses, the order of appearance, and the time
  allotted for each witness in order to provide all witnesses the
  opportunity to be heard in a timely manner.
         (f)  The committee may not consider or take formal action
  on a specific bill, resolution, or other nonprocedural matter
  during a regional hearing, except for the adoption of permanent
  rules at an initial meeting held in the Capitol.
         SECTION 3.  PUBLIC NOTICE OF MEETINGS.  (a)  The chair
  shall give public notice at least 72 hours in advance of a meeting
  for a regional hearing during the regular session or in the
  interim between sessions, and 48 hours in advance during a called
  session.
         (b)  The chair shall give public notice at least 48 hours
  in advance of a meeting for a public hearing on a bill or
  resolution.
         (c)  Public notice of the time and place of a meeting shall
  be posted in a public place in the manner required by Senate
  rules.
         SECTION 4.  CONSIDERATION OF REDISTRICTING BILLS BY THE
  SENATE.  (a)  No proposed amendment, amendment to the amendment,
  or substitute amendment changing any district in a legislative,
  congressional, or state board of education redistricting bill is
  eligible for consideration on second or third reading unless 35
  copies of an amendment packet prepared by the Texas Legislative
  Council (TLC) have been filed with the calendar clerk in
  accordance with this section.
         (b)  An amendment packet is not required to include a
  textual description of tracts, block groups, and block numbers,
  but must include:
               (1)  a general written description of the proposed
  changes, including district numbers if the amendment does not
  propose a statewide substitute plan, the names of counties or
  description of regions affected, and the plan number assigned by
  the redistricting computer system operated by TLC;
               (2)  one or more maps prepared by TLC indicating the
  changes made by the amendment; and
               (3)  standard reports prepared by TLC that indicate
  population, voter data, and incumbent locations for the
  districts affected by the amendment.
         (c)  The calendar clerk shall as soon as practicable make
  filed amendment packets available to the members of the Senate.  
  The calendar clerk shall also work with TLC to provide a
  hyperlink for each amendment from the bill webpage on the public
  legislative information website to the appropriate plan in the
  public DistrictViewer application operated by TLC.
         (d)  An amendment packet for each original amendment that
  will be offered during second reading consideration of a
  legislative, congressional, or state board of education
  redistricting bill must be filed with the calendar clerk by 9
  a.m. on the third calendar day after the day on which the bill has
  been reported favorably from a committee, not including Sundays.
         (e)  A bill with filed amendments subject to Subsection
  (d) is not eligible for consideration on second reading until 24
  hours after amendment packets have been made available to members
  of the Senate.
         (f)  Subsections (d) and (e) do not apply after the 122nd
  day of the regular session, or to a bill that originates in the
  House of Representatives during a called session.
         SECTION 5.  AUTHORITY; CONFLICT OF RULES.  The Senate
  adopts these redistricting rules and procedures under the
  authority of Article III, Section 11 of the Texas Constitution.  
  All questions of procedure not provided for in this resolution
  shall be subject to the standing rules of the Senate.  In case of
  any conflict, the procedures herein shall prevail over a
  conflicting Senate rule or procedure.
 
 
    _______________________________ 
        President of the Senate
     
         I hereby certify that the
    above Resolution was adopted by
    the Senate on January 13, 2021,
    by the following vote:  Yeas 31,
  Nays 0.
   
   
    _______________________________ 
        Secretary of the Senate