Bill Text: TX SJR6 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas Redistricting Commission to redistrict the United States House of Representatives and the Texas Legislature.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-07-08 - Filed [SJR6 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SJR6-Introduced.html
| 87S10203 JRJ-D | ||
| By: Zaffirini | S.J.R. No. 6 | |
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| proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas | ||
| Redistricting Commission to redistrict the United States House of | ||
| Representatives and the Texas Legislature. | ||
| BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by | ||
| adding Section 28a to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 28a. (a) The Texas Redistricting Commission exercises | ||
| the legislative authority of this state to adopt redistricting | ||
| plans for the election of members of the United States House of | ||
| Representatives elected from this state, the Texas House of | ||
| Representatives, and the Texas Senate. Districts for those | ||
| legislative bodies may not be established or changed except as | ||
| provided by this section. | ||
| (b) The legislature shall provide by general law for the | ||
| composition and operation of the Texas Redistricting Commission. | ||
| (c) This section takes effect January 1, 2030. On that | ||
| date, the Legislative Redistricting Board is abolished and Section | ||
| 28 of this article is repealed. The Texas Redistricting Commission | ||
| shall convene for the first time on the first business day after | ||
| January 31, 2031. This subsection expires January 1, 2032. | ||
| SECTION 2. Section 7a, Article V, Texas Constitution, is | ||
| amended by amending Subsections (e) and (i) and adding Subsection | ||
| (j) to read as follows: | ||
| (e) Unless the legislature enacts a statewide | ||
| reapportionment of the judicial districts following each federal | ||
| decennial census, the board shall convene not later than the first | ||
| Monday of June of the third year following the year in which the | ||
| federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide | ||
| reapportionment of the districts. The board shall complete its | ||
| work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary of | ||
| state not later than August 31 of the same year. If the Judicial | ||
| Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by that | ||
| date, the Texas [ |
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| established by Article III, Section 28a [ |
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| shall convene on September 1 of the same year to make a statewide | ||
| reapportionment of the judicial districts not later than the 90th | ||
| [ |
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| make the reapportionment. | ||
| (i) The legislature, the Judicial Districts Board, or the | ||
| Texas [ |
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| redistrict the judicial districts to provide for any judicial | ||
| district smaller in size than an entire county except as provided by | ||
| this section. Judicial districts smaller in size than the entire | ||
| county may be created subsequent to a general election where a | ||
| majority of the persons voting on the proposition adopt the | ||
| proposition "to allow the division of ____________ County into | ||
| judicial districts composed of parts of ____________ County." No | ||
| redistricting plan may be proposed or adopted by the legislature, | ||
| the Judicial Districts Board, or the Texas [ |
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| Redistricting Commission [ |
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| by the voters of any county. | ||
| (j) Until January 1, 2030, a reference in this section to | ||
| the Texas Redistricting Commission means the Legislative | ||
| Redistricting Board established under Article III, Section 28, of | ||
| this constitution. This subsection expires January 1, 2031. | ||
| SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be | ||
| submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 2021. | ||
| The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the | ||
| following proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing | ||
| the Texas Redistricting Commission to redistrict the United States | ||
| House of Representatives and the Texas Legislature." | ||
