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Buckingham
State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, who represents Burnet and Llano counties in District 24, is encouraging her constituents to take part in virtual redistricting hearings going on this month.
“Public participation is such a vital part of the redistricting process, and I hope to see my constituents from Senate District 24 participate in any way that they feel comfortable,” said Buckingham, R-Lakeway, who is a member of the Senate Special Committee on Redistricting.
“From now through Feb. 27, the public will have seven opportunities to provide virtual testimony via Zoom videoconference. If you do not wish to testify virtually, written comments and attachments are welcome at any time throughout the legislative redistricting process. All comments and attachments received via the public-input portal are shared with all committee members and maintained in the committee’s official records.”
The purpose of the regional hearing is to solicit public input on the 2021 legislative redistricting process. This hearing provides the public an opportunity to share details about their local communities and information that they believe is relevant to the upcoming redistricting process.
The virtual hearing for the Austin area, which includes Burnet and Llano counties, will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26. Dr. Lloyd Potter, Director of the Texas Demographic Center, will provideinvited testimony about population projections for the State, with a focus on the Austin region.
Buckingham said constituents can sign up to provide public testimony as a witness by going online to https://bit. ly/3qEtHEIG. To provide public testimony, a witness must register in advance of the regional hearing. No in-person testimony will be taken at the regional hearing. All testimony will be taken by two-way videoconference.
Registration for the regional hearing is now open and will close 24 hours prior to the start time of the hearing (9 a.m. on February 25,2021). Once witness registration has closed, witnesses will no longer be able to register to testify at this regional hearing. However, witnesses may register to testify at any future regional hearing.
Other hearings and subject areas include:
• 1 p.m. February 3, San Antonio;
• 9 a.m. February 4, Dallas/Fort Worth;
• 9 a.m. February 12, Houston;
• 10 a.m. February 19, El Paso; and
• 9 a.m. February 27, All Regions.
“Although each hearing is focused on a different region, the public is encouraged to participate in any regional hearing that they choose,” Buckingham said.
