Senator Uresti appointed vice chairman of Senate Redistricting Committee

State Sen. Carlos Uresti on Monday was appointed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst as vice chairman of  the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting that will consider political boundaries in the 83rd Legislature’s first called session.

Gov. Rick Perry issued a proclamation calling for the special session to begin at 6 p.m. Monday, just after the regular session adjourned sine die. Perry called on the Legislature to ratify and adopt the interim redistricting plans ordered by the federal court as the permanent plans for districts used to elect members of the Texas House and Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Uresti, who served on the Select Committee on Redistricting during the 2011 legislative session, said he is ready to play an even greater role in shaping the issue as vice chairman in the special session.

“I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues on this committee, but I don’t believe we should merely rubber-stamp the interim maps for Congress and the Texas House,” Uresti said. “Neither the districts drawn in regular session two years ago or the court-ordered plan fully reflect the explosive growth in the Hispanic population over the last 12 years.

“We must draw districts that reflect that growth and the diverse political, economic, and regional interests that exist across our state,” he said.

Uresti, chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus, represents a Senate district that is 66.9% Hispanic, 24.6% Anglo, and 7.1% black. The per capita income for residents of the district is $17,687.

Sen. Uresti represents Senate District 19, which covers more than 35,000 square miles and contains all or part of 17 counties, two international ports of entry, ten state parks, 51 school districts, almost 9,000 miles of highways and county roads, and more than 29,000 producing oil and gas wells. The district is larger than 11 states and 124 Nations, and contains almost 400 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.