The census is not officially over (saw a census worker in my complex yesterday), but the politicians here in Texas are already beginning the long process of redistricting. And I'm sure there will be lots of fighting and name-calling before it's over next year (and I wouldn't be surprised to see a court fight either). Texas is one of the states that will gain some members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- possibly as much as three or four new members.
According to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, the Redistricting Committee and the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee will be working together on this issue. These two committees are going on the road to hear what the people of Texas have to say about redistricting. They will start this road show in San Antonio on June 21st, and then go on to some other cities between now and November. Here is the tentative schedule:
July 2010 - McAllen, Laredo, Corpus Christi
August 2010 - El Paso, Lubbock
September 2010 - Dallas, Richardson, Fort Worth
October 2010 - Beaumont, Marshall
November 2010 - Houston, Austin
You will notice that the city of Amarillo (with about 200,000 citizens) is nowhere on that list, and neither is any other Panhandle city. I'm beginning to feel like the Panhandle is the red-headed step-child of Texas politics. We get plenty of abuse from Austin, but no recognition at all.
During the last redistricting fight, Oklahoma and New Mexico got more visits from Texas politicians than the Panhandle did. Is it going to be that way again?
No comments:
Post a Comment
ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. And neither will racist,homophobic, or misogynistic comments. I do not mind if you disagree, but make your case in a decent manner.