10月. 1, 2021 — #33
第三届特别会议，第12天

有人有地图吗?

也许有人碰巧知道该怎么做?

我不知道你能不能看出来

但我只是假装知道而已
地图在哪里?

我需要一个线索
'
因为可怕的事实是

我盲目

我边走边编

——摘自《任何人都有地图?” We don’t think the song from the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” was about Texas redistricting, 但它确实给了我一个f-bomb. 詹妮弗·劳拉·汤普森配音: http://bit.ly/3D0QmUS

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大脑地图 – This week saw the introduction of Texas 代表ublican-drawn maps for the U.S. House and Texas House, joining previous drafts for the Texas Senate and State Board of Education. 在这周末之前, with some of the criticism of the fractalized map patterns going bipartisan, the running rumor that it might take a fourth special session for the Legislature to complete redistricting remained alive and well. 这次会议还不到一半，州长. 格雷格·阿博特(Greg Abbott)向记者承认了这一点, suggesting a fourth special session might have to focus only on map-drawing until that task is complete. As has happened in the past, the current drafts may soon morph into birdcage lining.

房屋分割 -美国劳联-产联(劳联-产联)在德克萨斯州批评了两家美国公司.S. 众议院(SB 6)和EBET易博真人平台众议院(HB 1)法案. The largest theme: Persons of color made up 95 percent of the state’s nation-leading population growth in the last decade but actually make up majorities in fewer districts. That places incumbency protection and raw seizure of political power ahead of communities of interest and acknowledgment of changing demographics. State labor federation President Rick Levy said the congressional map draws one less Latino-majority district and no Black-majority district, 使其“不合法.利维在EBET易博真人平台众议院的地图上说, 哪一个会将盎格鲁占多数的选区从83个增加到89个, forces the very populations that account for Texas’s growth to surrender power. 做个算术吧:2020年的美国.S. 人口普查 says non-Hispanic Whites are 40 percent of the population; under EBET易博真人平台的房子 map, White majorities would reside in more than 59 percent of the House seats.

近距离亲身体验 ——选区地图出台的时候, some officeholders woke up to find they are “paired” with other incumbents in a district they don’t recognize. (Accompanying this phenomenon in the first Texas House map is the exodus of an El Paso district to Fort Bend County.) Lawmakers tend to take such incursions personally, and often they are right. 美国.S. House map pairs two Democratic labor champions in the same redrawn Houston district: U.S. 代表. 艾尔·格林和希拉·杰克逊·李. 它还与休斯顿的另一位民主党劳工领袖、美国劳工联盟(us.S. 代表. 西尔维亚·加西亚反对美国.S. 代表. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, in a district drawn to give Crenshaw more 代表ublican voters. 德克萨斯州的众议院地图上有两名埃尔帕索的民主党人:州众议员. 莉娜·奥尔特加和克劳迪娅·奥尔达斯·佩雷斯. 它还对两组共和党人进行了配对. 杰西·杰顿，里士满共和党议员. 菲尔·斯蒂芬森，沃顿商学院和共和党众议员. 弗雷德里克堡共和党议员凯尔·比德尔曼(Kyle Biedermann. 特里·威尔逊，R-Marble Falls. (Two more Democrats who would have been targeted by the map are not running for reelection: 代表. Michelle Beckley of Carrollton, who is reportedly planning to run for Congress, and 代表. 达拉斯的约翰·特纳. In news that might actually be unrelated, another GOP takeover target, State 代表. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, announced he is not seeking reelection to his House seat.)

径流的新闻 – Texas House District 118 in the South Side of San Antonio will see a special election runoff between labor-endorsed Democrat Frank Ramirez and 代表ublican John Lujan. State 代表ublican leaders targeted the first round of the election with a high-dollar campaign and the two GOP candidates slightly outpolled three Democrats in a low-turnout first round. State and national Democrats have taken notice as 代表ublicans weave a narrative that they are making major inroads into Latino districts that have traditionally voted Democratic. Ramirez is looking to succeed Leo Pacheco, who retired from the seat to take a college teaching job. 这是个好兆头:他以很少的资金在决选中幸存下来, winning votes by knocking on doors throughout the working-class district. EBET易博真人平台劳联-产联, San Antonio Central Labor Council and affiliates have committed to a grass-roots campaign to help turn out the 2,000年工会成员, 加上家庭成员, 谁住在这个地区. 政府. 格雷格·艾伯特将会决定决选日期, which could occur as soon as three weeks after the first-round votes become official. Take note: Whoever wins would run again in a higher-turnout 2022 general election. Lujan won the seat in a similar special election tiny-turnout situation some years ago, only to lose in the general election; he never cast a vote in the Legislature.

充满气体的 -EBET易博真人平台参议院委员会震惊了-震惊了! – that a law aimed at addressing last winter’s ice storms that stranded millions of Texans in their homes without heat or water has a large loophole allowing natural gas companies to avoid winterizing their facilities. 这次听证会由EBET易博真人平台铁路委员会主持, 这和铁路没有任何关系, 处于困境, which has everything to do with the fact the Texas Senate signed off on the loophole. 政府. Greg Abbott has claimed repeatedly that lawmakers did everything necessary to prevent another energy grid meltdown. Ratepayers are on the hook as part of this ticking time bomb. 阅读更多: http://bit.ly/3B1aaH0

从头来过 – The refusal to revisit energy grid legislation doesn’t mean our 政府ernor eschews do-overs. 事实上, Texas saw a second round of highly questionable legislation dictating how social studies teachers may ply their profession this summer, 而这周, Abbott added to the call of the current special session a highly politicized proposal to increase penalties for illegal voting from a Class A misdemeanor to a second-degree felony. SB 1, 臭名昭著的选民压制法案, included the lesser penalties as part of a legislative compromise. House Speaker Dade Phelan tweeted that reduced penalties in SB 1 were “thoughtful amendments” and “now is not the time to re-litigate” the issue. 《达拉斯晨报》(Dallas Morning 新闻)的鲍勃·加勒特(Bob Garrett)做了总结: http://bit.ly/2ZNK1Oe

RIP Farenthold“娘娘腔” ——弗朗西丝·法伦霍德, a high-minded progressive whose principles always came first, served in EBET易博真人平台的房子 as the only woman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, 保持着100%的EBET易博真人平台劳联-产联COPE投票记录. After playing a major role in pursuing the Sharpstown scandals, 导致了EBET易博真人平台历史性的道德改革, 并与麦凯恩共同支持《EBET易博真人平台》(Equal Rights Amendment). 芭芭拉乔丹, 法伦霍德曾两次竞选州长, losing in a closer-than-expected 1972 runoff when the Democratic nomination was tantamount to election (and subsequently seeing her name placed in nomination for Vice President). 1974年竞选州长后，她退出了政界, 成为了大学校长和法学教授, and mentored generations of women in politics (and plenty of men as well). 法伦霍尔德在95岁生日前6天去世. 她将被深深地怀念.

接下来是什么 -众议院和参议院将于周一返回. The Senate Finance Committee will consider legislation on how to allocate more than $15 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding. Unions are advocating for a large portion of that funding to go to working families who have lost economic power in the pandemic. 更多的来.

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最基本的

什么是“一人一票”??
在20世纪60年代，美国的经济增长速度超过了美国.S. 美国最高法院发起了一系列的裁决.S. Constitution requires electoral districts to have roughly equal populations, giving voters across the state equal say in their governing bodies.

这一原则如何适用于重划选区?
当议员们为国会绘制地图时, EBET易博真人平台的房子, 德克萨斯州参议院和州教育委员会, the initial map must contain roughly equal districts and any amendment that moves a substantial number of people from one district to another must also give back a similar number.

那些重要的?
从理论上讲,每个人都. 美国.S. 人口普查, 哪些可能有低估, is the official determiner of the “ideal” number of residents needed in any district. Finding that number is straightforward: For the Texas Senate, 例如, divide the population of Texas by the Senate’s 31 districts; that number, 每个地区接近一百万人, 成为“理想.“在接下来的十年里, 随着人口的变化和转移, the number of residents in each district could well become unequal, but the 2020 人口普查 remains the measuring stick until the 2030 one is completed.

那些没有资格投票的人怎么办?
它们仍然适用于“一人一票”的目的.” That includes babies, undocumented persons, and anyone else who never registers. A right-wing-led challenge to the system claiming Texas could divide districts by the number of eligible voters rather than all residents failed unanimously in the U.S. 最高法院.

Isn’t it hard to keep track of how many people are in a district during redistricting?
过去是这样的. Even a small amendment to a redistricting bill could take days to prepare to ensure compliance with “one person, 一票”等要求. But the software has become so powerful that the population count – though not the political considerations -- can be calculated relatively easily in 2021.

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ULLCO对票据的头寸

在本周的讨论中，ULLCO:

参议员反对SB 1. 保罗·贝当古(Paul Bettencourt)， R-Houston(同伴是hb89，由共和党众议员. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress)，以及Oliverson的hb90. SB 1 would use billions of dollars in unspent state revenue to fund a temporary election-year-only reduction in school property taxes. HB 90 would dedicate certain “surplus” state funds to school property tax relief. 虽然减税的主张听起来不错, 事实证明, the bulk of the benefit from SB 1 would go to the wealthiest Texans, and working people might well lose money when other taxes are taken into account. 看看每个EBET易博真人平台人的分析: http://bit.ly/3D4hthw

代表认可hb101. 亚历克斯·多明格斯, D-Brownsville, which would appropriate federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide back pay of a flat $2 an hour for state employees who served at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas State Employees Union has taken a lead on this bill that would recognize the contributions of state employees in keeping state operations going during this difficult period;

参议院第二委员会反对参议员. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, which would appropriate more than $7.2 billion – or about half the available ARPA funds – to the Unemployment Insurance fund to prevent employers from having to pay any tax increase in light of the millions of unemployment claims filed during the pandemic. The use of that high a percentage of the ARPA funds for what amounts to employer tax relief overlooks other major priorities that have not been addressed, 例如医疗保健;

参议员支持SBs 30、31和32. 内森·约翰逊D-Dallas. SB 30 would allow state and local governmental entities to require COVID-19 vaccinations of their employees as a condition of employment. SB 31 would permit vaccine passports for businesses that sell alcohol at retail or for on-premises consumption. SB 32 would specify that no legal cause of action is created by a law forbidding other businesses from requiring vaccine passports;

OPPOSED the following bills that seek to stop COVID-19 vaccine requirements:

HB14的代表. 史蒂夫·托斯, R-The Woodlands (prohibiting employee vaccine requirement when company received government contracts);

HB 18 by Toth (barring discrimination by businesses or unions against employees based on vaccine status);

由代表填写hb33. 布莱恩-斯莱顿夫人, R-Royse City (barring hospitals and related businesses from requiring employee vaccines);

hb37代表. 糖果高贵, R-Lucas (requires vaccine exemption option for employees for medical condition or “reasons of conscience”);

HB 39 by Noble (bars health plans from raising premiums or taking other action for those who refuse vaccines);

HB 74 by Toth (forbids exclusion from public schools of persons who refuse vaccines out of “conscience” or religious beliefs during emergencies);

hb86代表人. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington (prohibits vaccine passports);

SB 11(参议员). 鲍勃·霍尔, R-Edgewood (prohibits governmental requirement of vaccine passport, 以及基于疫苗状况的歧视);

SB 14 by Hall (prohibits vaccine requirements by governmental entities); and

SB 36 (prohibits use of state funds to enforce vaccine requirements).