Texas: redistricting commission bill passes Senate
The Dallas Morning News reports: The partisan blood bath that has been congressional redistricting in the Legislature would be relegated to a citizen board under legislation tentatively passed Friday in the Senate.
The victory for bill author Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, was somewhat hollow. While he has worked on the proposal for 12 years, and it passed the Senate for the first time, he acknowledged that the bill is presumed dead in the House and lost for the session. ...
Under his proposal, the House and Senate would join to appoint eight redistricting commissioners, with Democrats appointing four and Republicans appointing the other four. A ninth member would be selected by the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and would vote only to break ties.
Commissioners could not be a party official, registered lobbyist or an elected official, or anyone who had served in those roles within the previous two years. In addition, a commissioner would serve for 10 years and could not run for elective office. -- DentonRC.com | News for Denton, Texas | Texas/Southwest