Democrats argue the Legislature must first address the deadly Hill Country floods.
By Sarah Bahari
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Texas Republicans have scheduled redistricting hearings in Arlington and other cities, as outnumbered Democrats say they will use any tactic necessary to halt an effort to redraw the boundaries.
The first public hearing is set for Thursday in Austin. The House Redistricting Committee will then meet Saturday at the University of Houston. The final public hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at the University of Texas at Arlington.
The hearings are meant to gather public opinion about the plan, which seeks to maintain a Republican majority in the U.S. House following next year’s midterm elections. President Donald Trump is pushing for lawmakers to redraw district lines to flip five Democratic seats in the U.S. House, including one in Dallas and three in Houston.
State lawmakers convened at noon Monday for the special session, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to address a long list of issues, including regulation of hemp-derived THC and the deadly July 4 Hill Country floods.
Democrats have argued the Legislature must first address the floods, which killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children. Abbott called on lawmakers to improve early warning systems, strengthen emergency communications, provide relief funding and streamline regulations related to responding to disasters.
Redistricting typically occurs every 10 years, at the start of a decade following the release of census data. Changing the map mid-decade is unusual but not unheard of. The Legislature last redrew district lines in 2021, and that effort was largely viewed as shoring up GOP districts after several Republicans lost seats in the 2018 midterm elections.
Democrats say they are considering several options to fight the redistricting and have not ruled out fleeing the state, known as breaking quorum, a tactic used by Democrats in 2003 to stop the redrawing of district lines and in 2021 to protest changes in voting laws.
The Department of Justice indicated the Texas seats held by Democrats are illegal because they created large coalitions of nonwhite voters, according to a letter the governor cited as his reason for including redistricting in the special session. They include the district represented by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, which snakes through Tarrant and Dallas counties, capturing large numbers of nonwhite voters. Veasey has called the redistricting effort “disgusting.”
Sen. Phil King, R-Granbury, said Democrats’ questions would best be answered in committee hearings and lawmakers are evaluating the boundaries from a “race-blind perspective.”
Texans who want to submit comments electronically can do so online this week in English or Spanish. To speak in person, members of the public should register with the clerk at the hearing. Speakers will be limited to two minutes, and the public testimony portion of the hearing will be limited to five hours.
The Arlington meeting will be at the Rosebud Theatre at the E.H. Hereford University Center, 300 W 1st St. The meeting will also be broadcast live online.
Staff writers Karen Brooks Harper and Philip Jankowski contributed to this report.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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