Texas Senate votes to take up redistricting again

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The Texas Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to again take up the decennial means of redrawing the boundaries of the state’s political districts a yr and a half after the Legislature accomplished the method and yielded new districts. Those newly drawn districts elevated the Republican majorities in each the Senate and the House and lowered the voting power of voters of coloration.

The redistricting course of this yr is generally procedural and isn’t anticipated to produce very totally different outcomes.

Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, mentioned she was taking the step “out of an abundance of caution” to be sure that Legislature had met its constitutional requirement to apportion districts within the first common session after the federal census, which is completed each 10 years. Because of the pandemic, census numbers weren’t launched till after the top of the final usually scheduled legislative session on May 31, 2021. Redistricted maps had been handed in a subsequent particular session that yr.

Two Democratic lawmakers, Sens. Roland Gutierrez of Antonio and Sarah Eckhardt of Austin sued, saying that violated the Texas Constitution as a result of the census numbers weren’t obtained till Aug. 12, 2021. That would make the present legislative session, which kicked off on Tuesday, the primary common session for the reason that launch of these numbers.

Eckhardt mentioned the Senate’s choice to take up the problem again proves she and Gutierrez had been proper on the legislation, however she mentioned she didn’t count on a lot change within the maps drawn by the state in 2021.

“I think this will be a check-the-box exercise,” she mentioned. “I would have liked to have seen in the first go-around a substantive discussion and taking the input of constituencies into account.”

Still, she inspired Texans to make their voices heard about how the maps must be drawn in order that they pretty symbolize voters within the state.

Huffman, who led the redistricting committee within the 2021 legislative session and can again lead its efforts this yr, mentioned the process would observe comparable guidelines to these utilized final session and would create a chance for “regional hearings” to be held within the Capitol that will likely be streamed on the web for the general public throughout the state. The public may also have an avenue to testify in these hearings just about. Those hearings will likely be held between Jan. 25 and 28.

“This resolution is designed to address the unique nature of redistricting to ensure a fair and transparent process,” Huffman mentioned.

The Senate’s decision applies solely to senate districts, however legal professionals for the legal professional normal’s workplace have mentioned in courtroom the method will probably want to be repeated for the House and the State Board of Education, whose districts had been additionally redrawn final session. The course of doesn’t apply to congressional districts, nonetheless.