AUSTIN -- The chairman of the House Redistricting Committee said Wednesday that time is running out for lawmakers to produce a congressional redistricting plan before their May 30 adjournment and expressed concern that the job may have to be completed in a special session.
"It's looking more probable," Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, told the Star-Telegram.The congressional map must originate in the Senate because the deadline has passed for originating House bills. State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting, said he canceled a Friday hearing to unveil the map because it's not ready."We're still working on it and I didn't want to waste the members' time," Seliger said.Seliger did not concur with Solomons that the delay increases the chances of a special session."I have no feel for that because that's a decision the governor will make," Seliger said. "Whether he calls a special session on redistricting or the budget, it's his call."Key lawmakers have recently acknowledged the growing possibility of a midsummer special session if they cannot resolve differences on a two-year spending plan.Lawmakers are responsible for redrawing legislative and congressional districts to conform to population changes over the past decade.Tarrant districtSolomons' committee approved a redistricting plan Wednesday for the Texas Senate after rejecting efforts to reconfigure proposed boundaries for the district of Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, a member of the committee, echoed Davis' assertions that the Republican-drawn Senate plan would decimate the voting power of Hispanic and African-American voters in Davis' District 10. Veasey unsuccessfully offered three amendments to restore minority voting strength there."There's no doubt that the minority community is divided and conquered," Veasey said.The plan, which the Senate approved Tuesday, now faces a vote by the full 150-member House.The proposal draws a new statewide map for Texas' 31 senatorial districts and would reshape the districts of the three senators who now represent portions of Tarrant County: Davis and Republicans Jane Nelson of Flower Mound and Chris Harris of Arlington.Additionally, the 10-county District 22 represented by Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, would include a southern portion of Tarrant County. Most of Veasey's heavily minority legislative House district in southeast Tarrant County would be placed in Birdwell's Senate district.Veasey said the shift would place most of his African-American and Hispanic constituents in a largely rural and predominantly Anglo district, where they would have no opportunity to influence the outcome of elections."I feel we're put in the basement and shut off," said Veasey, the only African-American in the Tarrant County House delegation.Veasey and Davis have contended that the new plan violates the federal Voting Rights Act, but Solomons defended it.Dave Montgomery is the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau chief. 512-476-4294Aman Batheja, 817-390-7695Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
