ABOVE: Texas Democrats, screenshot via Representative Chris Turner’s Facebook page.
Democratic members of the Texas state legislature left the capitol today, in fact left the state entirely, thwarting Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s special session to pass eleven conservative priority bills.
Speaking to reporters upon arrival at Washington’s Dulles International Airport in suburban Loudoun County, Virginia, the Texas Democratic lawmakers said their action was to prevent Republican efforts to pass new voting restrictions, a bill restricting abortion access and other conservative measures during a special legislative session including a bill that would restrict trans youth athletes in Texas from competing on sports teams matching their gender identity.
“We are determined to kill this bill in this special session, which will end on August 7, and we will stay out until then in order to do that,” Representative Chris Turner, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, told reporters Monday night at Dulles International Airport, flanked by dozens of his colleagues.
Turner was referring to the voting restrictions bill, which would prohibit drive-through and 24-hour voting locations, add new identification requirements to mail-in voting; both requirements placing unfair burdens on the state’s minority Black and Latino populations and empower partisan poll watchers which Democratic lawmakers as well as election officials and voting rights activists say are new attempts to target and intimidate minority voters.
The exodus is intended to deny the legislature the quorum needed to approve any of the measures on Abbott’s special-session agenda. “If they keep wanting to throw oppressive bills, then we’ll keep fighting them, in whatever way we have to,” Representative Alex Dominguez told Reuters in a call from the plane filled with his Democratic colleagues en route to Washington Monday.
The Democrats had earlier staged a walkout on May 30 in the legislative regular session, which derailed efforts by Republicans to pass Senate Bill 7, the Governor’s priority voting elections bill which forced Abbott to recall lawmakers in a special session. Angered by that walkout, last month the governor vetoed a section of the state budget that funds the Texas Legislature, its staffers and legislative agencies.
In his veto statement, Abbott said that “funding should not be provided for those who quit their job early, leaving their state with unfinished business and exposing taxpayers to higher costs for an additional legislative session. I therefore object to and disapprove of these appropriations,” the Texas Tribune reported.
Both Governor Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan expressed anger over the move by Democratic lawmakers. “The Democrats must put aside partisan political games and get back to the job they were elected to do,” Abbott said.
In a media statement, Phelan said, “A number of House Democrats stated their caucus intends to break quorum in an attempt to stall election integrity legislation. These actions put at risk state funding that will deny thousands of hard-working staff members and their families a paycheck, health benefits, and retirement investment so that legislators who broke quorum can flee to Washington D.C. in private jets.
The Texas House will use every available resource under the Texas Constitution and the unanimously-passed House Rules to secure a quorum to meaningfully debate and consider election integrity, bail reform, benefits for retired teachers, Child Protective Services reform, Article X funding, and the other important measures Gov. Abbott placed on the special session agenda. The special session clock is ticking — I expect all Members to be present in our Capitol in order to immediately get to work on these issues.”
