Panel to begin gathering input on state’s redistricting
Enrique Rangel - The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal—February 9th, 2010

AUSTIN – Redrawing the state’s congressional and Texas Legislature districts is still a year away. But as early as this week, a panel that will recommend to the lawmakers how to redraw the maps may get a preview of what can be expected.

On Wednesday, the Texas House Redistricting Committee will meet in Austin for the first in a series of hearings throughout the state this year – including a stop in Lubbock – aimed at getting public input about the fairest way to tackle the volatile issue.

The main item on the agenda is testimony from U.S. Census Bureau officials in the Dallas Regional Office, whose jurisdiction includes Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

“I want my committee to understand the population changes in our state,” Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, chairman of the 15-member panel, said of the every-10-years population count the federal agency will conduct starting next month.

“We’ve got to be getting ready,” said Jones, who was also chairman of the panel in 2001 and in 1971 when the Legislature redrew the state’s congressional and Texas Legislature maps, too, as the federal government requires every 10 years when a state gains or loses population.

Because of the state’s explosive growth in the last 20 years, particularly in the last decade, Texas is expected to gain at least three congressional seats. However, despite the more than 9 percent population growth statewide in the last decade alone, more than two dozen rural counties in West Texas have continued to lose population. As a result, the region is expected to lose a Texas House district and possibly a congressional district, too.

Jones has said since early last year, when House Speaker Joe Straus appointed him chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, one his main goals is to minimize the loss for West Texas.

“This is a critical time for West Texas, and I will do whatever I can to make sure we don’t lose more representation than we have to,” he said.

To read more go to The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal article.