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Key senators denounce House mapThey promise districts that won't divide communities
07/09/2003
Key senators declared a House-passed redistricting bill dead on arrival Tuesday and promised an alternative to better reflect growing GOP strength without dividing communities and robbing rural Texas of its influence in Congress.
"I've talked to a number of senators, both Democrat and Republican, and they've got some problems with the House map," said GOP Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate.
Democrats attending a redistricting hearing in Dallas said a bipartisan bloc in the Senate was ready to prevent the House map from reaching the Senate floor.
"It's a pig with lipstick on it," declared Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.
GOP leaders said they remain undeterred in the task of redrawing congressional boundaries during the special legislative session. Democrats held out hope that they still can block passage of a new map.
The Republican-controlled House gave approval early Tuesday to a redistricting plan, rolling over Democrat objections that the proposal was partisan gerrymandering that diminished the influence of rural Texans and racial minorities.
Democrats hold a 17-15 edge in the state's congressional delegation. The House map could increase the GOP's seats to 21, experts say.
But Senate criticism of the House plan Tuesday came on several fronts.
Sen. Kenneth Armbrister, D-Victoria, a potential swing vote, said he could not vote for the House proposal because it would give suburban voters too much influence over rural districts.
Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, complained that the House-passed map would unacceptably subdivide East Texas.
"It obliterates northeast Texas, the part of the state I represent," said Mr. Ratliff. "Texarkana would be represented by somebody from east Dallas County, and I don't think the people in my district would agree with that."
Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, sponsor of the House plan, said congressional lines should reflect the growing Republican shift in the state, where the GOP holds every statewide office and controls both chamber of the Legislature.
"This is a fair and equitable map of Texas that clearly recognizes our voting patterns," he said.
Getting to the floor
Senate rules require a two-thirds vote before any debate is allowed. Democrats, who hold 12 seats in the 31-member body, could block a vote, but Republicans are cautiously confident they can persuade enough Democrats to bring the matter up for consideration.
Once a bill is up for debate on the Senate floor, it can be amended there or changed in a conference committee of House and Senate members. And only a simple majority – 16 members of the 31-member Senate – would then be necessary for passage.
Mr. Ratliff said that before voting to consider redistricting, he would need a promise that a later conference committee would not send back a bill similar to the House proposal.
"I will have to have assurances," he said. "I will have to be comfortable that the map will not come back ... that does anything that the House map does."
Mr. Dewhurst sought to offer that assurance, saying that Senate members of a conference committee would require that any final plan would have to closely mirror a Senate version that he promised would have bipartisan support.
"We're going to look over that House map over the next several days," he said. "Can we fix it so we can reach a consensus? If not, how should we draw a map so we can reach a consensus here in the Senate."
Some Senate Democrats stepped up the pressure on members of their own party in an effort to keep them from defecting.
"This is a defining vote. You can't be a Republican and a Democrat on this. You've got to choose," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "If you're a Democrat office holder and you vote for a Republican redistricting plan, I would think that Democrats in a primary would look very unfavorably toward you."
Tuesday, a Senate committee held hearings in Dallas on a new redistricting map.
Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, echoed the complaints of many Democrats who said the special session on redistricting, called by Gov. Rick Perry, was a waste of taxpayer dollars.
"What we have here is a solution looking for a problem," said Ms. Van De Putte, who is head of the Democratic Senate Caucus.
Republican criticism
Even some Republican senators in Dallas had problems with the House proposal.
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said the House map was flawed.
"I do think it will be amended. The Senate has it's own ideas," she said. "Some of the senators have already expressed concern with West Texas, East Texas and some pairings that they thought were unfair."
Ms. Shapiro said she did not think Mr. West had the votes to prevent a plan from coming up for Senate debate.
Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, said he had not seen the House plan and would come up with a map of his own.
"I've not been counting heads," he said. "I've been going to public hearings and listening to the people."
More than 500 people jammed into a room at the University of North Texas in Dallas for the Senate hearing.
They carried signs that read, "Scrap the map" and "Don't Dance With DeLay."
Democratic Reps. Martin Frost of Arlington and Max Sandlin of Marshall testified against the proposal.
"Tom DeLay is asking that the Texas Legislature start a holy war that will be picked up by other Legislatures all over the country, and it would put this country into chaos," Mr. Frost told reporters.
Mr. DeLay has rejected that and said the new map is designed to reflect Texans' increased support of Republicans.
Mr. Sandlin, who brought more than 100 supporters with him from East Texas, sparred with Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, over the five-minute limit imposed on those who testified at the hearing.
One of several senior Democrats at risk under the House plan, he said rural and minority voters were being ignored.
"It makes sure that there is no rural representation. It makes sure that there's no minority representation," he said. "We have to make sure that voters and not Tom DeLay decides who their congressman is."
Staff writer Robert T. Garrett contributed to this report.
E-mail wslater@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/070903dnetexredist.3063c.html
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