The Senate State Affairs Committee considered a bill that would change the judicial process for school finance and redistricting lawsuits.

The bill's House companion would also apply to other litigation of major impact to the state.

Senate Bill 455 by Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would allow the Texas attorney general to petition the Texas Supreme Court's chief justice to convene a mandatory three-judge court to hear school finance or redistricting cases. The panel would consist of the original district judge who got the case, and two others appointed by the chief justice: a district judge from another county and an intermediate appellate court justice from another district. An appeal from a three-judge court would go straight to the Supreme Court.