Texas Republicans Discuss Election Law Options After Democrats Flee State

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After House Democrats left the state on Monday in an effort to block the GOP’s election bill from passing during the special legislative session, attention turned to Republicans and what they can do to pass the priority legislation.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R. Beaumont, said in a statement that afternoon that the chamber would “use all available resources under the Texas Constitution and House rules passed unanimously to secure a quorum” to pass items on the special session’s agenda, which was set by Governor Greg Abbott. Several House Republicans have indicated they will support what’s known as the House Call, a procedural move that would allow law enforcement to track down lawmakers who have already fled the room.

It’s unclear though what effect such an order would have, given that Democrats have flown to Washington, D.C. where Texas law enforcement has no jurisdiction. Republicans are also keeping their cards close to the jacket on whether there are other tactics they plan to use to force members of the state’s minority party to return to Austin before the special session ends in 26 days.

Abbott, who has also tasked the legislature with working on a range of other conservative priorities such as border security funding and abortion-related legislation, said later Monday that he could and would summon as many special sessions as needed “until they do their job.”

“They will be assembled in the Capitol,” he told KVUE.

The proposed electoral legislation, House 3 and Senate Bill 1, would make a number of changes, such as banning drive-by and 24-hour voting options and further restricting the state’s mail-in voting rules. House and Senate committees advanced the legislation over the weekend after lengthy hearings.

Two-thirds of the 150 members of the House of Representatives must be present in order for the Chamber to conduct business. According to the House rules, which were adopted unanimously by members at the start of the regular legislative session in January, any member can move to make a call by the House to “secure and maintain a quorum” for the legislation. This proposal shall be supported by 15 members, one of whom may be the speaker, and shall be requested by a majority of votes. The movement also allows the speaker to lock the room doors to prevent members from leaving the room.

The rules of the House of Representatives state that “until a quorum appears, if the roll call fails to show one attendance, no business shall be dealt with, except for compulsion or adjournment of the absent members.”

At least two House Republicans — Briscoe Kane of Deere Park and Jeff Leech of Plano — said they would support such a movement when the lower chamber kicks off on Tuesday morning. Others, including Representative Dustin Burroughs, a Lubbock Republican who chairs the powerful House Calendars Committee, signaled support for this procedural move.

“It’s a sad comment that we may have to use a rule of procedure to try to force most Democrats to show up to do the job they were elected to do,” Burroughs said in a statement to The Texas Tribune, adding that “unfortunately the wake-up call to social media and fundraising fame has been” Democrats attracted to the capital

The last time Democrats broke a quorum and fled the state in 2003, Texas Republicans asked attorneys general in Oklahoma and New Mexico if Texas soldiers could arrest lawmakers in their states without a warrant and return them to Texas. Both countries said no.

Republican leaders at the time also asked if federal authorities could bring the Democrats back, but the FBI and the Department of Justice said at the time that they had no justification to intervene.

As news of the Democrats’ dramatic departure spread across Texas on Monday, a number of statewide Republican officials and lawmakers criticized their colleagues as attention seekers who were ignoring their legislative duties and abandoning the voters who elected them to work on issues facing the state.

In a statement, Abbott said Democrats’ move to “abandon the Texas State Capitol is hurting the people of Texans who elected them to serve” and said they had left on the table important issues such as the exemption from property tax and funding for the state’s foster care system “flying across the country on comfortable private jets.” .”

Republicans also have another pressure point: The legislative branch, including members of the legislature, will run out of funding on August 31 after Abbott vetoed his funding after two of his priority bills failed while Democrats walked out of the regular session.

Democrats have challenged in court the Abbott decision, which endangers the livelihoods of about 2,100 members of the legislature. But if they don’t return to Austin to refinance during the special session, Republicans can blame them for not paying those employees.

“[The Democrats are] “Right out the door when they have the opportunity to get paid to their employees when they complain about it,” said Corbin Castiel, a GOP strategist. “It is a double-edged sword. They may be able to delay the voter integrity bill, but they are also deceiving their employees.”

Other Republican members of the House responded Monday by introducing legislation that would penalize future lawmakers for trying to break the quorum.

State Representative Mays Middleton R Wallisville, who heads the Freedom Caucus in the hard-line conservative House of Representatives, said he has introduced a constitutional amendment proposal that would remove protections from lawmakers’ pay if that lawmaker had an unexcused absence at a lack of quorum. He also introduced legislation prohibiting lawmakers from raising campaign donations during a private session.

Middleton’s move came on the heels of Representative Tony Tenderholt, a fellow Liberty Caucus member from Arlington, introducing a resolution in the House that would allow the Chamber to strip lawmakers who have left their presidential positions and commission assignments as well as open the door to revoking “privileges such as large offices and coveted parking.” which are normally distributed on the basis of seniority of members.

“It would be very frustrating to see Democrats make efforts to avoid debate on this,” State Representative Andrew Murr, a Republican cracker who is leading the House election bill, said in a statement to the Tribune. He also said it was “as transparent as possible” to help “create the smartest and most effective policies”.

“I know that my other representatives and I would welcome the opportunity to continue the discussion and work together to pass a strong election integrity law,” Murr said.

Castiel said the state’s minority party could trade short-term gains for long-term losses with their latest withdrawal.

“This is one of those kinds of deals where you look at battle versus war,” he said. “They won the first battle during the normal match [session]They are trying the same thing here, but in the end their time will run out and they will have to vote.”

In 2003, Democrats left the state during their regular session to block a redistricting plan by Republicans who had just taken over both houses of the legislature. Senate Democrats held off on two special legislative sessions, until the redrawn maps were finally passed during the then-government’s third special session. Rick Perry.

John Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said Abbott could do the same if Democrats did not return before the end of the special session.

“It’s the old adage about elections that has consequences,” Taylor said. “When you’re not in the majority, they still can’t stop these things at this point.”

But Taylor said that even if Democrats couldn’t stop the election bill, they could still draw attention to their cause.

“The goal is to get it to voters, Congress and the nation because this isn’t just something that’s happening in Texas, it’s happening in other red states,” he said. “We see it in Georgia, Florida, we’ve seen it in Oklahoma and maybe we’ll see it in other states.”

However, the maneuver is a calculated risk.

“You already see it,” Taylor said. “[Democrats are] They are seen as heroes from the Democratic side and the focus of all evil from the Republican side.”

Disclosure: The University of Texas at San Antonio has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial backers play no role in the Tribune press. Find a full list of them here.

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