Bill Text: TX SR2 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Establishing redistricting rules for the 88th Legislature.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-01-11 - Reported enrolled [SR2 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR2-Enrolled.html
| By: Huffman | S.R. No. 2 | |
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| 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. | ||
