Tuesday, December 8, 2020 6 PM - click the FairMapsTexas.org link for Statewide Virtual Public Input Hearing
Thursday, December 10, 2020 6 PM - click the FairMapsTexas.org link for the Virtual Public Input Hearing for South TX Region
The public has a right to be a part of the policy-making process. Because the Texas Legislature's rules do not allow for virtual hearings, neither the House or Senate Redistricting Committees will hold any more public input hearings before the legislative session begins. The Fair Maps Texas Coalition is urging the House and Senate leadership to develop a contingency plan to allow for public hearings.
Fair Maps Texas will also hold virtual public input hearings so that the public can be a part of the legislative process. While these hearings will not be official hearings, the testimony will be transcribed so that written testimony can be submitted directly to both the House and Senate Redistricting Committees and become a part of the official record. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard!
Texas has already begun the process of redrawing the state and federal legislative districts for the 2021 round of redistricting. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions to the public input hearing schedule that both the House and Senate Redistricting Committees adopted in 2019. By the time the pandemic worsened in March of 2020, the House Redistricting Committee had held only 13 of the 28 scheduled public input hearings, and the Senate Redistricting Committee had yet to hold a single hearing.
The purpose of those hearings was to solicit public input about a region’s unique geographic and demographic characteristics from those residents most familiar with their own neighborhoods, as well as ways to improve the upcoming redistricting process. Community members' testimony provides context to the 2020 Census data and assists the Legislature when it draws district boundaries, so that district lines are drawn to keep communities whole and grouped with nearby communities with similar interests.
Make Your Voice Heard On
Redistricting In Texas!
Click this link for events and date information
