Legislative Update on Redistricting & Testimony Refresher

Please join Stephanie Swanson from the League of Women Voters of Texas and Joaquin Gonzalez from the Texas Civil Rights Project as we discuss what’s in store for the upcoming legislative session and help you prepare testimony for the House and Senate Redistricting Committees.

Due to the pandemic, the Legislature has canceled/delayed the public input hearings that are normally held during the interim between legislative sessions. The Fair Maps Texas Coalition, of which the League is a part, will be holding our own virtual, public input hearings so that the public can continue to be a part of the legislative process. While these hearings will not be official, we will be providing a transcription service so that written testimony can be submitted directly to both the House and Senate Redistricting Committees, so it can become a part of the official record.

The purpose of these hearings is 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. This testimony is meant to provide context to the 2020 Census data and assists the Legislature when it draws district boundaries, so that district lines are drawn to keep your community whole and grouped with nearby communities with similar interests.