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The Senate Special Committee on Redistricting met on January 29 to discuss the matter of redistricting in the East Texas area. The Committee received invited and public testimony. A video of the hearing can be found here.

 

The HillCo report below is a summary of remarks intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics discussed. This report is not a verbatim transcript; it is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Presentation

Dr. Lloyd Potter, Texas State Demographer

  • Texas currently stands projected to gain 3 additional house seats, would bring us up to 39
  • Population shifts/growth require redrawing of congressional and state legislative district boundaries
  • Census data also used to allocate federal funds to support many state managed programs
  • Apportionment file delayed; now will be sent to POTUS by April 30 at the latest
  • Date for the Redistricting Data File to be received by the Governor July 31st at the earliest
  • Redistricting Committee, Senate, and House draw boundaries based on the ideal size plus/minus 5%; difficult to hit the exact number
  • Have been large population growth rates in Rio Grande Valley area
  • Aim to meet threshold of about 4,000 with each Tract; a lot of potential splits in northern Houston area and College Station
  • Estimated Texas will grow to 29.3 million, over 4.2 million since 2010; Latino population expected to exceed to non-Hispanic white population by end of 2021 or 2022
  • Texas Demographic Center Redistricting Resources include a narrative for District 17, maps of numeric/percent/population change for ethnicity and total population, census continues practice of evaluating decennial count (link to resources shared)
  • Provides information on Census Bureau Quality Assessments for 2020 and Census Bureau Resources for Count Question Resolution (CQR) (link)
  • CQR allows the government to question a count and present evidence to request changes; should evidence meet criteria changes will be made to count

 

Public Testimony

Michael Strong, Self

  • Nacogdoches, Texas resident; advocate of various citizen review groups
  • Requests redistricting be fair and transparent, independent citizen redistricting commission with skills to assist the legislature during this process
  • Requests public input hearings be held after census data has been received, that public has sufficient time (at least 14 days), and changes to map must be presented to public before voting
  • Requests virtual hearings be help through the drafting process

 

Roman Lopez Griffin, Self

  • Resident of San Sabine County; would like to see his district aligned with similar interests to other counties/districts
  • Currently not enough census data to move forward with anything

 

Roshin Rowjee, Self

  • Does not have a congressman that is representative of the Piney Woods of East Texas due to redistricting and gerrymandering
  • Lopsided congressman elections due to population inconsistency in districts
  • Since gerrymandered, people have left due to loss of almost 10,00 jobs
  • Highlights lack of compromise in state legislature; electing people with extreme views on both sides on both parties

 

Eddie Morgan, Self/TARA

  • Worries about division of state due to gerrymandering
  • Asks for the maps to not be manipulated and are fair and represent all of Texas

 

Laura Odom, Self

  • Asks that district is made reflective of the entire population of each county
  • Advocates for transparency during the process

 

Caroline Salter, Self

  • Former Mayor of Palestine, Texas; Asks that Texas is led to an impartial, bipartisan redistricting process
  • Gerrymandering has led to non-competitive election races; believes the cons outweigh the goods

 

Jennifer Cantu, Self/TAG

  • Latino resident of Fort Bend County; Believes larger demographics should be able to elect a candidate of their choice
  • Gerrymandering disenfranchises the Hispanic community; Says racial gerrymandering was done by design

 

Julia Beechinor, Self

  • District 29, supports previous regional commenters; Encourages more virtual hearings
  • Franklin Mountains separate different communities of interest into districts in El Paso
  • Recommends pass of legislation for independent commission
  • Requests independent citizen redistricting commission with skills to assist the legislature during this process

 

Mary Koch, Self

  • SD 17, HD 134, CD 2 in Houston; Says Gerrymandering weakens democracy and has affected her greatly
  • Calls for officials to make the map drawing process transparent for constituents, let public know how communities of interest are defined; Do not use partisan information to draw the maps

 

Marla Lopez, Self

  • SD 13, HD 132, lives in Westside Houston
  • Regular people and constituents do not believe the government values their vote, because of the way maps have been drawn
  • Trust in government has diminished, people in power did not do right by the people they did right for themselves; Urges to continuation of virtual meetings, and fair/transparent process

 

Yongyin Huang, Mi Familia Vota

  • SD 22, Resident of Harris County, and a student in Cinco Ranch High School
  • Gerrymandering has impacted our state for the last 4 years at least, must have a fair and open redistricting plan
  • Urges to continue virtual sessions, draw lines in the communities favor not parties; Will be hearing the same issues for the next 10 years

 

Jeffrey Dixon, Self

  • Wharton county resident, says public must be able to comment in special session when maps are drawn
  • Urges continued virtual sessions and asks for transparency and reiterates the access to comment in special session when maps are drawn

 

Elizabeth Bille, NALEO Educational Fund

  • Ensure transparency is present and asks for continued virtual sessions
  • Lines on the map should be shown in reflection of growth and population, not drawn politically

 

Nancy Nichols, Self

  • Ensure transparency is present
  • Requests continued virtual sessions until maps are drawn

 

Jennifer Vick, Self

  • Urges continued virtual sessions, calls for transparency and prioritization of fairness in redistricting