By: Huffman S.R. No. 2
 
 
 
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 88th
  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 the interim
  between sessions and at least 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
  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 have been filed with the calendar clerk in accordance
  with this section.
         (b)  An amendment packet is not required to include a
  description of geography in the form of counties and census
  tracts, block groups, and blocks, 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 a
  description of regions affected, and the plan number assigned by
  the redistricting computer system operated by the Texas
  Legislative Council;
               (2)  one or more maps prepared by the Texas
  Legislative Council indicating the changes made by the
  amendment; and
               (3)  standard reports prepared by the Texas
  Legislative Council that include 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 the Texas Legislative
  Council to provide hyperlinks from the bill webpage on the public
  legislative information website to the appropriate plan for each
  amendment in the public DistrictViewer application operated by
  the Texas Legislative Council.
         (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 date the bill is reported
  favorably from a committee, excluding Sundays.
         (e)  A bill with filed amendments subject to Subsection
  (d) of this section is not eligible for consideration on second
  reading until amendment packets have been made available to
  members of the Senate for at least 24 hours.
         (f)  Subsections (d) and (e) of this section do not apply
  after the 122nd day of the regular session, nor 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 Section 11, Article III, 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 11, 2023,
    by the following vote:  Yeas 31,
  Nays 0.
   
   
   
    _______________________________ 
        Secretary of the Senate
 
  Establishing redistricting rules for the 88th Legislature.