Congressional redistricting is one of the ways political parties can grab power in Texas.
The Texas Legislature will redraw our state’s U.S. Congressional districts, as it does every 10 years, during their next session in 2021, based on the 2020 census.
Get involved this week when the Texas House Redistricting Committee holds a hearing at Dallas City Hall.Â
The hearing is an effort, “to maximize the opportunities for Texans to share information they believe relevant to the upcoming redistricting process, including information about communities of interest within our state.”
“Communities of interest,” means people with a common set of concerns, such as race and poverty.
As Fair Maps Texas puts it: “These hearings may be one of the only opportunities ordinary citizens may have to provide in-person, direct comments and input to the Committee here in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area, without having to travel to Austin.
“It is critically important that as many members of the public as possible provide the committee with descriptions of how legislative and congressional district lines have had an impact on their communities and how it has affected their ability to influence their state and congressional representatives under the current boundaries — and to propose changes in district lines that might better reflect the boundaries of their neighborhoods and other shared interests.”
The Dallas hearing is at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, in City Council chambers. Even if you can’t go, you can still submit feedback by emailing members of the committee directly.
