Senate committee advances SB4 after hours of testimony on Texas congressional map

Senators in the Texas Senate Special Committee on congressional redistricting voted to report Senate Bill 4 to the full Senate after a day of public testimony and debate over whether the companion map filed in the Senate is a lawful redraw or a partisan effort to reduce the political power of Black and Latino communities.

The chairman and author, Senator King, told the committee SB4 is based on 2020 census figures and “meets the 1 person, 1 vote standard,” arguing the plan redraws 37 of 38 congressional districts to be, in his view, more compact and to “elect more Republicans to the U.S. Congress.” He said he had legislative counsel review the map before filing it as a senate companion to the house plan.

Opponents — including civil-rights advocates, local elected officials and a long line of public witnesses — urged the committee not to advance the bill. Witnesses said the proposed lines would “pack and crack” communities of color, break existing communities of interest, and likely be the subject of additional litigation. Gary Bledsoe of the Texas NAACP told the committee the proposed map “is a blatant attempt to rob Texans of color of their political power.”

Why it matters: redrawing congressional lines determines which voters are grouped together for U.S. House elections and can change which party is likely to win seats. The committee’s action moves the Senate-authorized map closer to a Senate floor vote while opponents say the change would be implemented well before any final court review could be resolved.

What the plan does:…