Posted on 10/08/2003 3:50:50 PM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
By Associated Press
October 8, 2003, 6:12 PM EDT
AUSTIN --
Texas House and Senate negotiators reached a congressional redistricting agreement in principle Wednesday, settling a dispute among Republican lawmakers, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.
After days of closed-door meetings, legislators finally reached a deal after U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay came to the Capitol and met with state officials for three straight days this week. The final sticking point was over how to draw districts in West Texas.
"It is my hope that we can have a final map that we can show you tomorrow morning," Dewhurst said.
There remain some small details to iron out, but the agreement in principle covers the entire map, a Dewhurst aide said.
The conference committee agreement still must receive approval from the majority of the House and Senate. The chambers are scheduled to convene again Friday.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry is expected to sign the redistricting bill.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
Thanks! I was just gonna post this ...
House, Senate agree on redistricting map05:07 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 8, 2003
AUSTIN – After nearly six months of partisan wrangling, exhausted House and Senate negotiators finally reached an agreement Wednesday on redrawing congressional boundaries, according to negotiators.
The breakthrough came Wednesday afternoon following the personal intervention by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay when lawmakers settled the nettlesome question of how to remap West Texas.
According to a person involved in the negotiations, the resolution followed a closed-door meeting among Republican senators at which it was made clear to Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, that the map finally agreed upon was the best the Senate could get.
Formal announcement of the deal was expected later Wednesday.
The new plan could net Republicans an additional six or seven seats among the state’s 31-member congressional delegation. At present, Democrats hold a 17-15 advantage.
Under terms of the deal, Mr. Duncan agreed that his home district would include Deaf Smith County – which he wanted – as a condition for accepting Eastland County – which he did not, according to a person involved in the negotiations.
Eastland County is a Republican stronghold, but one that has favored Rep. Charles Stenholm, a Democrat from Abilene. Mr. Duncan had resisted including the county for fear it might increase Mr. Stenholm’s prospects in a matchup next year against the freshman Republican congressman from Mr. Duncan’s district.
According to a person involved in the negotiations who asked for anonymity, a map likely would not be made public until Thursday while lawyers and staff pore over details to confirm its legality.
A joint statement from House and Senate leaders was expected Wednesday afternoon after Gov. Rick Perry returned from a trip to New York.
House and Senate negotiators were planning a joint appearance on Thursday to outline details of the new map, which would be taken up Friday in both the House and Senate.
“All of this is a credit to the leadership of the House and the Senate,” said Mr. DeLay, who has been in Austin since Monday meeting in marathon sessions with legislative leaders.
According to negotiators, the deal likely would not delay the March 2 primary election.
Legislative rules require a 24-hour wait for a floor hearing in each chamber – a timetable that made it imperative that negotiators reach a deal by Wednesday so that the Legislature would have time to adopt the new map Friday morning. The timetable would allow lawmakers to vote on the new districts without missing Saturday's big Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas.
As has been the case for weeks, the biggest obstacle to a deal between House and Senate leaders remained a disagreement over which of their Republican friends should have a shot at representing in Congress some sparsely populated turf in West Texas.
Mr. King said Tueday that deciding which congressional districts should include Deaf Smith County in the Panhandle and Eastland County, between Fort Worth and Abilene, was "the big impediment."
Even before Wednesday’s breakthrough, Democrats unleashed well-honed criticism of the remap effort, with a new theme – a grain of hope that redistricting may die under the weight of GOP infighting.
“Here is a group of people who can't agree among themselves," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston. "When you get hogs in a trough, they tear each other up to get to what it is they need to have. That's what's going on here.”
The third 30-day special session on redistricting must end by midnight next Tuesday.
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/100903dntexremap.1328c5b.html
Let's keep the Dem's on the run!
Click the Pic!
Aha, so now we know what REALLY drove the legislators to compromise.
House, Senate agree on redistricting map Excerpt:AUSTIN – After nearly six months of partisan wrangling, exhausted House and Senate negotiators finally reached an agreement Wednesday on redrawing congressional boundaries, according to negotiators.
The breakthrough came Wednesday afternoon following the personal intervention by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay when lawmakers settled the nettlesome question of how to remap West Texas.
According to a person involved in the negotiations, the resolution followed a closed-door meeting among Republican senators at which it was made clear to Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, that the map finally agreed upon was the best the Senate could get.
Formal announcement of the deal was expected later Wednesday.
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All the major newspapers and wire services have this now. And this one includes statements from Dewhurst.
There is a deal, and the map will be formally presented tomorrow after it goes through its final computer check and review tonight.
SEVEN? I was hoping for six, willing to settle for five. Woo Hoo.
Full text on post #3 folks. Recall is done and hopefully this is next. Getting closer, anyway ...
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I'm gonna wait so I don't get accused of crying wolf-ping.
hehe ! Me too, but I'm expecting that the SEVEN is blatant BS bias by the DMN staff.Still, pretty good we're makin' progress !! :O)
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