TITLE: Relating to the composition of the congressional districts for the State of Texas.

SUMMARY: Relating to the composition of the congressional districts for the State of Texas.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the composition of the congressional districts for the State of Texas. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. The districts from which the members of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Texas are elected are the districts as provided by law and used for the election of the members of the United States House of Representatives at the 2010 general election except as those districts are changed by Section 2 of this Act. SECTION 2. (a) The portion of Congressional District 4 located in Cass County tract 950100, block 4015, is transferred to Congressional District 1. (b) The portion of Congressional District 11 located in Nolan County tract 950100, block 2272, is transferred to Congressional District 19. (c) The portion of Congressional District 26 located in Cooke County is transferred to Congressional District 13. SECTION 3. In this Act, "tract," "block group," and "block" mean the geographic areas identified by those terms on the 2010 Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles, prepared by the federal Bureau of the Census for the Twenty-third Decennial Census of the United States, enumerated as of April 1, 2010. SECTION 4. It is the intention of the Texas Legislature that, if any county, tract, block group, block, or other geographic area has erroneously been left out of this Act, a court reviewing this Act should include that area in the appropriate district in accordance with the intent of the legislature, using any available evidence of that intent, including evidence such as that used by the Supreme Court of Texas in Smith v. Patterson,111 Tex. 535, 242 S.W. 749 (1922). SECTION 5. (a) This Act supersedes all previous enactments or orders adopting congressional districts for the State of Texas. (b) Chapter 2 (H.B. 3), Acts of the 78th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 2003 (Article 197i, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is repealed. SECTION 6. The districts set out in Section 2 of this Act apply to the election of the members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas beginning with the primary and general elections in 2012 for members of the 113th Congress. This Act does not affect the membership or congressional districts of the 112th Congress. SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.