The Democrats left the state on Sunday afternoon and began arriving at various destinations across the country including Chicago, Boston, and Albany.
On Sunday, August 3, 51 Texas House Democrats left the state to deny a quorum during the special session, halting several pieces of legislation including a redistricting bill that could potentially net Republicans five more seats in Congress.
Talk about a potential quorum break started when Governor Abbott added several agenda items to the special session he announced earlier this summer. In addition to congressional redistricting, Texas Republicans were also looking to pass an anti-trans bathroom bill and more restrictions on abortion.
For several weeks, many Texas Democrats have blasted the redistricting efforts during the special session. While there were hearings outside of Austin about redistricting, they did not include an actual map. In fact, there was only one hearing at the Capitol that was held since a map was introduced. On Saturday, the House Committee on Redistricting passed the redistricting bill on a party-line vote, and the bill was expected on the full House floor Monday. But the quorum break stalls those efforts.
The Democrats left the state on Sunday afternoon and began arriving at various destinations across the country. Texas Democrats in Chicago were joined by that state’s Governor J.B. Pritzker for a press conference. Pritzker had previously hosted several Texas Democrats as they pursued a national redistricting strategy.
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu began the press conference by saying that the decision to leave the state was not taken “lightly.” He reiterated that the quorum break was the final necessary move for Texas Democrats to make. “We come here today with absolute moral clarity that… this is the right thing to do to protect the state of Texas,” he told the Chicago audience.
He also noted that Republicans could be solely focused on passing legislation to address the devastating floods that occurred last month. Instead, Wu said Abbott was using flood recovery as part of a “political game.”
Rep. Chris Turner confirmed to the media in Chicago that there were other delegations of Texas Democrats in Boston and Albany, meeting with legislators in those states. “Together we are united in this fight and working to spread the word about what is happening,” he said. According to Turner, the redistricting push is not about representation, but about protecting Donald Trump from potentially losing a congressional majority in next year’s midterm election.
For his part, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker welcomed the members of the Texas House to the state of Illinois, though he wished it was under different circumstances. At the press conference, Pritzker noted that he had been in contact with members of the Texas Democratic Party for weeks and had even met with State Chair Kendall Scudder about this very scenario back in June.
Pritzker lavished praise on the Democratic lawmakers around him, and elsewhere in the country for taking a stand against what he deemed “unchecked power.” He also thanked the members for their sacrifice. “This is a righteous act of courage and we can all take a page from these leaders’ playbook,” he said.
When asked about what the next steps would be, especially if Texas Democrats do run out the clock on this special session but the Governor calls another one, Wu did not directly answer. When Pritzker was asked about threats by Attorney General Ken Paxton to go after the Democrats who left the state, the Illinois governor vowed to do everything in his power in Illinois “to protect every single one of them.”
After 2021 when Texas Democrats left the state to try and stop a voter suppression bill, Republicans enacted steeper penalties for legislators who leave the state, including $500 daily fines. At an event in Dallas last week, Texas Democratic Party Chair Scudder noted that the full cost of breaking quorum could exceed $1.6 million, and that was even before lodging or childcare costs were included.
Late Sunday night, Governor Abbott released a statement saying that he would invoke an opinion from the Attorney General to vacate the office of any legislator not present at the Capitol by 3:00 p.m. on Monday, August 4. However, such a move would likely be challenged in court.
Great Job Jessica Montoya Coggins & the Team @ Texas Signal Media Foundation Source link for sharing this story.
