Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, announced on Thursday that the Texas Senate Redistricting Committee will host a series of regional hearings to gather testimony from the public about the upcoming redistricting process.

The regional hearings will allow the public to testify before the Committee via Zoom video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The committee planned to hold in-person hearings across the state, but in order to ensure the safety of the public the Senate chose to hold the public testimonies via video conference. 

"I look forward to hearing from Texans in every part of the State about their communities as we prepare to redistrict using the data from the 2020 Census," Huffman said in a news release. "The pandemic has presented new challenges for all of us, but it will not prevent the Senate Redistricting Committee from soliciting input from Texans about their local communities--especially about local and regional considerations related to redistricting. This input will assist the Legislature in the critical task of redistricting."