Screenshot/Texas House of Representatives
A bill that would dramatically redraw Texas’ congressional maps, House Bill 4, has advanced in the GOP-led House of Representatives. The move increases the chances that Democrats will bolt the state to deny Republicans the minimum number of legislators needed for the House to function.
HB 4 now heads to the House floor and could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday — provided the necessary 100 members are present to conduct business. The House membership includes 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats. That means that the Democrats could bring the chamber to a halt by simply not showing up, an action known as “breaking quorum.”
“Given that the map represents a Republican assault on Democratic representation and on Black representation and on the Voting Rights Act, it is very likely to trigger a quorum break by Texas House Democrats who were already contemplating that strategy before the maps were released,” said Michael Adams, a political scientist at Texas Southern University.
The last time Texas Democrats broke quorum was four years ago to block the passage of election legislation during a special session. Governor Greg Abbott responded by calling another special session, and the quorum break ultimately collapsed.
The map legislation passed the House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting on a party-line vote following a day of testimony in which those opposing the measure outnumbered supporters 100-to-1, a point Committee Vice Chair Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) made.
“The people of Texas spoke,” Rosenthal said. “They came out in overwhelming numbers to these hearings. They submitted thousands and thousands of testimonials online, and we saw that 1.2% of the responses were in favor, while 98.8% were opposed. I think even conservative, true conscientious conservative Texans know this is a racist attack on Black and brown communities, and I won’t stand for it. We will continue to fight this with everything we have.”
Screenshot/Texas House of Representatives
State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) condemned the approaching vote on the proposed redistricting map as a travesty, and he pledged to those who had come out to testify against the map that the fight was far from over.
“This map intentionally dismantles majority-minority congressional districts in which voters have repeatedly demonstrated the ability and power to elect the candidates of their choice,” Turner said. “To take that ability and power away is straight-up, intentional racial discrimination and a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
State Rep. Christian Manuel (D-Port Arthur) described how prior rounds of redistricting had intentionally broken an opportunity congressional district in East Texas for non-white voters, and he said the communities have yet to recover from the resulting damage.
“Yesterday and the day before, we heard people who were telling you they were hurting and that they’re scared,” Manuel said. “And this is the same thing that happened when Democrats didn’t listen during the era of the tea party, and we paid for that. And that’s not a threat. I’m wanting you to understand, just like some of you remember what that fear felt like, you thought that big government was coming in to take over everything, that is the real fear that some people have.”
State Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Angleton), chair of the committee, presided over the committee meeting but did not make any statements in favor of the bill ahead of the vote.
State Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, issued a statement following the committee vote, condemning the process.
“This vote is a profound act of contempt for the people of Texas. It is the final confirmation that to hold power, Republicans will gladly silence the voices of Black and Latino Texans who have fought for generations to be heard,” Wu said. “When a majority uses its power not to govern, but to erase the voices of its fellow citizens, it forfeits its legitimacy.”
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