Senate Begins Redistricting Hearings as Federal Count Delays Increase
In the middle of the first week of public regional hearings on new political maps, lawmakers found out they are going to have to wait even longer to get official numbers showing how Texas’ population has changed over the last ten years. According to the US Census Bureau, the apportionment data, which determines how many representatives each state has in the US House, won’t be available until the end of April. The redistricting data, those figures that drive the process of drawing new boundary lines for statehouse and congressional districts, won’t be available before the end of July. This all but guarantees a special session on redistricting for the Legislature.