Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus are now discussing when they will return to Texas. They said they consider it a success that they have just about killed the special session and an effort in the House to pass new Congressional maps that will give Republicans five new majority seats.
After failing to reach quorum Tuesday morning for the fifth time in more than a week, Republican leaders announced that if they can’t reach a quorum again at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15, both the House and Senate will wrap up the special session.
At the same time, Governor Greg Abbott said the second special session will begin with the same agenda or possibly an expanded one.
Senate Democrats walk out in solidarity
Democrats broke quorum and left the state Aug. 3 and flew to Illinois. Some Democrats also traveled to New York, Massachusetts, and California.
In an effort to show solidarity, nine of the 11 Democrats in the Texas Senate walked out of their session Tuesday just as the Senate was going to vote on the new congressional maps.
Democrats wanted to vote on flood relief legislation before redistricting, but that was rejected, and they left. Because two Democrats remained in the Senate chamber, they maintained quorum, and the Senate approved the new congressional maps 19 to 2. Democrats and Republicans blame each other for gerrymandering Congressional seats.
Republicans share frustration over Democrats’ action
Representative Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, blasted House Democrats and said it’s Democratic states that have gerrymandered their Congressional seats.
“What Texas is doing on redistricting is a response in what’s going on in these other states. So, we have to make up for the gerrymandering in these other states with stronger Republican representation in Texas. This is a majority Republican state,” said Patterson.
But Senator Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, rejected that.
“Nationwide, every state gerrymanders, but Democrats don’t do it mid-decade. Democrats, when we were in control of the White House, didn’t tell Democratic states to redraw their maps so that they can withstand the rage of the voters for failed policies and bad leadership,” he said.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Gov. Abbott said, “There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them.”
The Texas House Democratic Caucus Chairman, Representative Gene Wu, of Houston, sent a statement early Tuesday afternoon: “We said we would defeat Abbott’s first corrupt special session, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Now, the ball is in Abbott’s court: He can stop blocking flood relief immediately. Stop playing political games.”
Speaker Dustin Burrows said Tuesday that Texas DPS agents have racked up more than $100,000 in overtime expenses as they have continued searching across the state to find missing House Democrats. Burrows said he will send a bill to the Democrats who broke quorum.
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