I’ll admit it, my jaw dropped when I read it. Republicans control every statewide office in Texas along with the State Senate (19-12) and State House (by a very narrow 76-74 margin), so why would they consider giving up full control over congressional redistricting, or a commanding 4 out of 5 places at the redistricting table should the State House shift further in 2010? After all, this is Texas, land of the DeLay-mander.
But it’s true. A bill introduced by State Senator Jeff Wentworth (R! – North San Antonio/South Austin) is designed to give control of congressional redistricting to an independent panel. The bill has previously passed the State Senate twice but has failed in the State House because former Speaker Tom Craddick said so (no really, this is a good example of how he operated and why he needed to go). New Speaker Joe Straus (R-North San Antonio) seems interested.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/bl…
Sen. Jeff Wentworth’s redistricting commission bill, which has passed the Texas Senate twice, has a fighting chance this session since Tom Craddick’s no longer speaker.
Wentworth, who presented his bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee, tells me he has confirmed pledges from six of nine Senate committee members to vote for his plan to turn congressional redistricting over to an independent commission. He gave a compelling – if lengthy – argument at State Affairs today for a new congressional redistricting mechanism, noting that lawmakers of both parties have been guilty of overreaching, vengeful actions that lead inexorably to expensive court appeals every decade.
He’s optimistic about his chances in the House, since it died there last session since “Craddick personally killed it.” Here’s the story: Wentworth had pledges from more than a majority of the House committee, but chairman Joe Crabb told him Craddick had instructed him to sit on the bill. Wentworth then collected signatures form 20 House chairman in support of his bill, but Craddick wouldn’t relent. Why? Wentworth says Craddick instructed him to go read “Craddick vs. Smith” – a 30-year-old lawsuit over Craddick’s mistreatment during redistricting at the hands of Democrats. (Wentworth’s bill doesn’t touch legislative redistricting, but oh well, ….)
Wentworth also claims that Gov. Rick Perry “wants to sign this bill.”
If this passes, the previous maps that have been discussed could be trashed, and in 2012 we could realistically see a congressional delegation from Texas made up of 16 Democrats and 20 Republicans.
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And if he did I assume there aren’t enough votes to override it?
If this thing became law would the state be bound to go with the independent panel’s congressional map or could the TX legislature scrap it and draw their own?
State legislators will never vote to take away their single most substantive power, one that affects federal politics. Independent commissions can only come into being through public initiative, and even then, they usually fail (California and Ohio are recent examples, though California voters did approve an independent commission for state legislative districts, just not congressional).
The Bill
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/t…
Legislative Analysis
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/t…
Looks like a good bill to me.
The commission would have 9 members. 2 selected by House Rs, 2 selected by Senate Rs, 2 by House Ds, and 2 by Senate Ds. The 8 members would then select a 9th nonvoting member and presiding officer. Any plan needs 5 (of the 8) votes to pass.
Since all of the voting members will be selected by the State Legislature, I suspect political considerations will continue to play a part in any redistricting, but it shouldn’t be so one-sidedly partisan. Likely, the commission would continue to protect incumbents and avoid a complete redrawing of the map. So, more of an evolution of the current districts toward neutral, then starting from scratch. Of course, this would still be a big improvement for Ds.