Bill Tracker: HB 112 and HJR 22 - Creating a Redistricting Commission

Texas redistricting has a healthy history full of scandal and busrides. Some would say it's just good ol' politics as usual. The U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of redistricting in Texas seems to support this position. Yet, others like Mark Strama, D-Travis, Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, Governor Schwarzenegger, and voters in Arizona, Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, Indiana, Maine and Connecticut take a different stance. They believe that redistricting should be a politically neutral exercise in preserving the "One Person, One Vote" maxim of our democratic process.

Representative Strama authored two bills, HB 112 and HJR 22, to create a constitutionally approved Redistricting Commission. HJR 22 is a constitutional amendment creating the Redistricting Commission. The joint resolution would allow Texans to vote on whether or not they want a bi-partisan body drawing the lines or maintain the status-quo of power to the victors. HB 112 simply dictates how the commission will be comprised and operated.

Is this idea of bi-partisan redistricting a new idea in Texas? No. Senator Wentworth, R-San Antonio, sponsored bills in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003 with the goal of creating a redistricting commission. His rationale for filing this type of legislation is straightforward. Senator Wentworth stated, "After the regular session when Democrats fled to Oklahoma to break a quorum because of congressional redistricting, after chairing the Senate Committee on Redistricting in 2001, and after seeing millions of taxpayers' dollars wasted defending lawsuits that inevitably occur after redistricting, I am more convinced than ever that Texans will be better served if the redrawing of legislative and congressional lines is placed in the hands of men and women whose political futures do not depend on the outcome."

Is the idea of bi-partisan redistricting a new idea in the US? No. Arizona voters agreed to an independent commission in 2000. Likewise, Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, and New Jersey rely on redistricting commissions. Indiana, Maine, and Connecticut use a hybrid type of redistricting commission. But two major redistricting initiatives were defeated in June 2005. GOP Governor Schwarzenegger's Proposition 77 was soundly defeated as well as Ohio's State Issue 4.

Will HJR 22 have the legs to make it to the Voters in 2007? The League of Women Voters of Texas hopes that it does: "The League believes that protection of the value, or weight, of each vote in an election should be the paramount goal during the redistricting process."