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.