Coretta Scott King Mid-Decade Redistricting Prohibition Act of 2021 (H.R. 134; 117th Congress)

by Sheila Jackson-Lee

117th CONGRESS
1st Session

H.R. 134

To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redistricting after a decennial census and apportionment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 4, 2021

Ms. Jackson Lee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redistricting after a decennial census and apportionment.

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

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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

(a) Short Title.—This Act may be cited as the “Coretta Scott King Mid-Decade Redistricting Prohibition Act of 2021”.

(b) Finding.—Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the terms and conditions States must follow 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 their number.

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Sec. 2. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING AFTER AN APPORTIONMENT.

The Act entitled “An Act for the relief of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional redistricting”, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), is amended by adding at the end the following: “A State which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law after an apportionment under section 22(a) 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), may not be redistricted again until after the next apportionment of Representatives under such section, unless a court requires the State to conduct such subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).”.

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Sec. 3. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL OFFICE.

Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which a State carries out elections for State or local office, including the process by which a State establishes the districts used in such elections.

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Sec. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act and the amendment made by this Act shall apply with respect to any Congressional redistricting which occurs after the regular decennial census conducted during 2020.