[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10089 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10089

  To prohibit States from dividing documented communities of interest 
     into multiple congressional districts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 13, 2026

Mr. Gallagher introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit States from dividing documented communities of interest 
     into multiple congressional districts, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Representation Act''.

SEC. 2. COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST PRESERVED IN REDISTRICTING.

    (a) State Requirements.--
            (1) Identification of communities of interest.--Prior to 
        any congressional redistricting conducted by a State, the 
        entity responsible for developing congressional redistricting 
        plans in the State shall--
                    (A) identify and document communities of interest 
                within such State, which may be provided in accordance 
                with State law;
                    (B) accept and publish each proposed community of 
                interest submitted by a resident of such State; and
                    (C) consider adding each such proposed community of 
                interest to the communities of interest documented 
                under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Prohibition on division of communities of interest.--A 
        congressional redistricting conducted by a State may not divide 
        a community of interest documented under paragraph (1)(A) into 
        multiple congressional districts unless such division is 
        necessary--
                    (A) to ensure that congressional districts in such 
                State have substantially equal populations as required 
                by law;
                    (B) to comply with the requirements of the Voting 
                Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.); or
                    (C) to preserve another community of interest in a 
                single congressional district.
            (3) Publication of information.--Not later than the date a 
        congressional redistricting plan in a State is finalized, the 
        entity responsible for developing congressional redistricting 
        plans in the State shall make publically available--
                    (A) a written justification for any instance where 
                a community of interest documented under paragraph 
                (1)(A) is divided into multiple congressional 
                districts;
                    (B) a description of the process used to consider 
                adding proposed communities of interest under paragraph 
                (1)(C); and
                    (C) in the case that a community of interest 
                documented under paragraph (1)(A) is divided into 
                multiple congressional districts under paragraph 
                (2)(C), an explanation as to--
                            (i) why the division was required to 
                        preserve the other community of interest in a 
                        single congressional district; and
                            (ii) why the preserved community of 
                        interest was prioritized over the divided 
                        community of interest.
    (b) Causes of Action.--
            (1) Divided community of interest.--An individual who 
        resides in a community of interest documented under subsection 
        (a)(1)(A) that has been divided into multiple congressional 
        districts in a State may bring a claim against the State in any 
        district court of the United States for enforcement of the 
        prohibition in subsection (a)(2).
            (2) Failure to add proposed community of interest.--An 
        individual who resides in a proposed community of interest 
        submitted under subsection (a)(1)(B) that has not been 
        documented under subsection (a)(1)(A) in a State may bring a 
        claim in any district court of the United States against the 
        entity responsible for developing congressional redistricting 
        plans in the State for--
                    (A) a declaratory judgment that such entity failed 
                to consider such proposed community of interest as 
                required in subsection (a)(1)(C);
                    (B) an order requiring such entity to consider such 
                proposed community of interest as required in 
                subsection (a)(1)(C); and
                    (C) if the proposed community of interest is not 
                documented under subsection (a)(1)(A) following such 
                consideration, an order requiring publication by such 
                entity of a justification for the decision not to 
                document such proposed community of interest.
    (c) Assistance to States.--The Election Assistance Commission shall 
develop and make available to States standards and tools for mapping 
communities of interest.
    (d) Community of Interest Defined.--In this section, a ``community 
of interest'' means a geographically connected population with shared 
cultural, historical, economic, or social characteristics, including 
language, education patterns, religious affiliation, or civic identity.
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