[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7095 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7095

     To require States to carry out congressional redistricting in 
    accordance with a process under which members of the public are 
    informed of redistricting proposals and have the opportunity to 
    participate in the development of such proposals prior to their 
                   adoption, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 25, 2024

 Ms. Ross (for herself, Mr. Nickel, Ms. Manning, Mr. Jackson of North 
  Carolina, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Adams, and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To require States to carry out congressional redistricting in 
    accordance with a process under which members of the public are 
    informed of redistricting proposals and have the opportunity to 
    participate in the development of such proposals prior to their 
                   adoption, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Redistricting 
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2024''.
    (b) Finding.--Congress finds that it has the authority to require 
States to follow certain procedures in carrying out congressional 
redistricting after an apportionment of Members of the House of 
Representatives because--
            (1) the authority granted to Congress under article I, 
        section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives 
        Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, place, and 
        manner of elections for Members of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (2) the authority granted to Congress under section 5 of 
        the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the 
        power to enact laws to enforce section 2 of such amendment, 
        which requires Representatives to be apportioned among the 
        several States according to the number of whole persons in each 
        State.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED UNDER PROCEDURES 
              PROVIDING OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, any congressional redistricting conducted by a State shall 
        be conducted in accordance with a process under which the 
        entity responsible for developing congressional redistricting 
        plans in the State (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 
        ``State redistricting entity'')--
                    (A) in accordance with section 3, establishes and 
                operates an internet site;
                    (B) in accordance with section 4, provides 
                opportunities for participation by members of the 
                public in the initial development of such plans; and
                    (C) in accordance with section 5, notifies members 
                of the public regarding the proposed final 
                congressional redistricting plan and provides 
                opportunities for members of the public to respond to 
                the plan.
            (2) Treatment of subordinate entities.--Except as otherwise 
        provided in this Act, the requirements of this Act shall apply 
        with respect to any entity which is subordinate to the entity 
        responsible for the final adoption of a congressional 
        redistricting plan under State law, including any commission, 
        board, committee, or subcommittee responsible under State law 
        for performing certain functions on behalf of such entity in 
        conjunction with the development and adoption of the plan for 
        the State, in the same manner as such requirements apply with 
        respect to the State redistricting entity.
            (3) Other procedures permitted.--Nothing in this Act or the 
        amendments made by this Act may be construed to prohibit a 
        State from conducting congressional redistricting in accordance 
        with such procedures as the State considers appropriate, to the 
        extent that such procedures are consistent with the applicable 
        requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
            (4) No effect on redistricting for state or local 
        elections.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
        Act may be construed to affect any procedures a State or a unit 
        of local government in a State may use to conduct redistricting 
        with respect to elections for State or local offices.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 22(c) of the Act entitled ``An 
Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and 
to provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress'', 
approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking ``in 
the manner provided by the law thereof'' and inserting: ``in a manner 
consistent with the requirements of the Redistricting Transparency and 
Accountability Act of 2024''.

SEC. 3. PUBLIC INTERNET SITE FOR STATE REDISTRICTING ENTITY.

    (a) Establishment and Operation of Site.--Each State redistricting 
entity shall establish and maintain a public internet site which meets 
the following minimum requirements:
            (1) The site provides general information about the 
        congressional redistricting process, including information on--
                    (A) applicable legal requirements; and
                    (B) any redistricting principles or policies that 
                the State redistricting entity will use in creating or 
                evaluating congressional redistricting plans.
            (2) The site is updated continuously to provide timely 
        advance notice of meetings held by the entity and to otherwise 
        provide information on the activities of the entity and any 
        subordinate entity described in section 2(a)(2).
            (3) The site provides access to all congressional 
        redistricting plans or district maps submitted by any person or 
        entity as part of the redistricting process.
            (4) The site provides members of the public with no-cost 
        access to easily assessable digital files containing the block 
        equivalency, shapefiles, and demographic and election data 
        needed for analysis, evaluation, or creation of proposed 
        redistricting plans, including assessment of a plan's partisan 
        performance and compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
        and other applicable legal requirements.
            (5) The site permits any individual to submit, view, and 
        search comments on proposed redistricting plans, and to submit 
        questions, comments, and other information with respect to the 
        entity's activities.
            (6) The site permits members of the public to watch, in 
        both live and archival formats, and review transcripts of, any 
        public hearings or meetings of the State redistricting entity.
            (7) The site includes any other information the entity is 
        required to make public under this Act or other applicable law.
    (b) Deadline for Posting of Comments Submitted by Public.--The 
State redistricting entity shall ensure that any oral or written 
comment relating to Congressional redistricting in the State which is 
submitted by a member of the public to the State redistricting agency, 
including a comment on any plan proposed by the entity or any other 
person, is made available on the site not later than 72 hours after 
submission.
    (c) Updating of Information.--The State redistricting entity shall 
take all actions necessary to ensure that the site established under 
this section is updated continuously to provide timely advance notice 
of the entity's meetings and to otherwise provide timely information on 
the entity's activities.
    (d) Multiple Language Requirements.--All of the information which 
is described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (6) of subsection (a) this 
section shall be posted and published in any language in which the 
State (or any jurisdiction in the State) is required to provide 
election materials under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
(52 U.S.C. 10503).
    (e) Deadline; Preservation of Information.--
            (1) Deadline.--The State redistricting entity shall 
        establish the internet site required under this section not 
        later than August 1 of the year in which the regular decennial 
        census is conducted.
            (2) Preservation of information.--All information on the 
        internet site established under this section with respect to a 
        congressional redistricting plan shall be preserved in an 
        accessible format for a period of not less than 10 years 
        following adoption of the plan.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC 
              PARTICIPATION IN INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL 
              REDISTRICTING PLANS.

    (a) Requirements for Public Hearings.--
            (1) In general.--To ensure that development of the State's 
        congressional redistricting plan is informed by public input, 
        the State redistricting entity shall hold hearings before and 
        after the development of any proposed congressional 
        redistricting plans. Such hearings--
                    (A) shall be held in different regions of the 
                State, with an option for participants to participate 
                virtually, and shall be streamed live on the public 
                internet site maintained by the State redistricting 
                entity under section 3; and
                    (B) shall be sufficient in number, scheduled at 
                times and places, and noticed and conducted in a manner 
                to ensure that all members of the public, including 
                members of racial, ethnic, and language minorities 
                protected under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, have a 
                meaningful opportunity to attend and provide input both 
                before and after the entity releases proposed plans, 
                including--
                            (i) comments on the criteria the entity 
                        will use to develop the plans;
                            (ii) the content of the plans; and
                            (iii) any other issues relating to 
                        congressional redistricting in the State.
            (2) Development and adoption of schedule.--
                    (A) Initial proposed schedule.--Prior to conducting 
                hearings under this section, the State redistricting 
                entity shall develop and publish a proposed schedule of 
                hearings that it determines are sufficient in number to 
                ensure that persons in all parts of the State, 
                including members of racial, ethnic, and language 
                minorities protected under the Voting Rights Act of 
                1965, have a meaningful opportunity to provide input 
                and comments regarding the contents of redistricting 
                plans for the State, except that the number of hearings 
                under the proposed schedule may not be fewer than 
                three.
                    (B) Public response to proposed schedule.--
                Following publication of the proposed schedule of 
                hearings under subparagraph (A), members of the public 
                shall have a period of not less than ten days to 
                comment on the number of proposed hearings, their 
                dates, times, and locations, and the processes by which 
                the State redistricting entity proposes to provide 
                notice of such hearings and ensure that the hearings 
                are equally open to all members of the communities 
                where the hearings are to take place.
                    (C) Publication of final schedule; opportunities 
                for additional hearings.--After giving due 
                consideration to any comments received under 
                subparagraph (B), the State redistricting entity shall 
                publish a final schedule of hearings under this 
                section, except that nothing in this paragraph may be 
                construed to prohibit the entity from holdings 
                additional hearings under this section if the entity 
                determines that additional hearings are necessary to 
                enable the entity to obtain the information it needs to 
                obtain sufficient public input on proposed 
                redistricting plans.
    (b) Other Opportunities for Public Participation.--Beginning on the 
date the State receives the notice of the number of Representatives to 
which the State is entitled in the following Congress under section 
22(b) of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 
subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment of 
Representatives in Congress'', approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), 
and continuing for not fewer than 60 days thereafter, the State 
redistricting entity shall solicit the input of members of the public 
in its work to develop proposed congressional redistricting plans for 
the State by carrying out the following activities:
            (1) Posting on the internet site established under section 
        3 the criteria which the entity will use to develop the 
        congressional redistricting plan for the State.
            (2) Posting on the internet site established under section 
        3 a link to a video recording of each such hearing not later 
        than 24 hours after the conclusion of the hearing and posting 
        on the site a searchable version of the transcript of each such 
        hearing not later than 5 days after the conclusion of the 
        hearing.
            (3) Engaging in outreach to provide information to and 
        encourage participation in the redistricting process by 
        communities with limited access to the internet or who may be 
        difficult to reach through English-language media.

SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PLAN PROPOSED TO BE 
              ADOPTED BY REDISTRICTING ENTITY; OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC 
              TO RESPOND.

    (a) Notice of Proposed Final Plan.--Not later than 10 days prior to 
holding a final vote on the adoption of a final congressional 
redistricting plan for the State, the State redistricting entity shall 
post information about the plan on the internet site established under 
section 3, including at a minimum the following:
            (1) An analysis of the proposed final plan, including--
                    (A) a map showing each congressional district 
                established under the plan, together with easily 
                accessible digital files containing the block 
                equivalency and shapefiles for each such district;
                    (B) a statement of the total population, the voting 
                age population, and citizen population of each such 
                district, broken down by race and membership in a 
                language minority group ; and
                    (C) a statement of the number of registered voters 
                in each such district, broken down by political party 
                affiliation to the extent that such information is 
                available under State law;
                    (D) a statement of the results in each such 
                district for all statewide elections conducted in the 
                State in the 6 years preceding the year in which the 
                most recent decennial census was conducted;
                    (E) an analysis of the plan's compliance with 
                applicable laws, including the Voting Rights Act of 
                1965;
                    (F) an assessment of the partisan fairness of the 
                plan under one or more standard quantitative measures 
                of partisan bias;
                    (G) a statement identifying all individuals and 
                entities responsible for the drafting of, or who were 
                consulted in conjunction with drafting of, the plan; 
                and
                    (H) a statement describing any changes made to the 
                plan in response to input from members of the public.
            (2) A statement explaining the entity's reasons for 
        adopting the proposed final plan and the reasons why the 
        adoption of the plan, as opposed to the adoption of alternative 
        plans, will best serve the public interest, together with an 
        assessment of how the plan is consistent with the policies 
        described in section 3(a)(1).
            (3) Any dissenting statement of any member of the entity 
        who did not approve the proposed final plan.
            (4) A statement that members of the public may submit 
        comments regarding the proposed final plan through the internet 
        site, together with information on how members of the public 
        may submit such comments to the entity through other methods.
    (b) Public Hearing Prior to Adoption of Final Plan.--
            (1) Mandatory public hearing.--Not later than 7 days prior 
        to holding a final vote on the adoption of the final 
        congressional redistricting plan for the State, the State 
        redistricting entity shall hold hearings in accordance with the 
        requirements of section 4 at which members of the public may 
        provide comments on the plan.
            (2) Video and transcripts of hearings.--The entity shall 
        post a link to a video recording of each such hearing on the 
        internet site established under section 3 immediately following 
        the conclusion of the hearing, and shall publish and post on 
        such website a searchable version of a transcript of the 
        hearing not later than 48 hours after the conclusion of the 
        hearing.
    (c) Treatment of Amended and New Plans.--If the State redistricting 
entity posts an amended version of the proposed final congressional 
redistricting plan or posts a new proposed final congressional 
redistricting plan, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to 
the amended version of the plan or the new plan in the same manner as 
such subsections apply with respect to the proposed final plan which is 
first posted under subsection (a).
    (d) Application to Subordinate Entities Holding Votes on 
Recommending Adoption of Plan.--If a subordinate entity of a State 
redistricting entity described in section 2(a)(2), including a 
committee or subcommittee of the State redistricting entity, is 
directed under State law to hold a vote on recommending the adoption of 
a final congressional redistricting plan to the State redistricting 
entity, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to the 
subordinate entity and the vote held by the subordinate entity on 
recommending the adoption of the plan in the same manner as such 
subsections apply to the State redistricting entity and the final vote 
held on the adoption of the final plan by the State redistricting 
entity.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION TO REDISTRICTING CONDUCTED PURSUANT 
              TO 2020 CENSUS FOR CERTAIN STATES.

    (a) Effective Date.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act 
shall apply with respect to any congressional redistricting which 
occurs after the regular decennial census conducted during 2030.
    (b) Application to Redistricting Conducted Pursuant to 2020 Census 
for States Without Enacted Congressional Redistricting Plans.--If a 
State is ordered by a court to revise its congressional redistricting 
plan for conducting redistricting pursuant to the regular decennial 
census conducted during 2020, and the State has not enacted such a 
final congressional redistricting plan as of the date of the enactment 
of this Act, this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply 
with respect to congressional redistricting in the State which is 
conducted pursuant to the regular decennial census conducted during 
2020, except that--
            (1) the State shall establish the Internet site described 
        in section 3 as soon as practicable after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act; and
            (2) the State redistricting entity shall begin to solicit 
        the input of members of the public under section 4(b) not later 
        than 30 days after the court issues the order to the State or 
        such earlier deadline as the court may require under the order.
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