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Special Session 2.0: Still no quorum yet

Aug 8th, 2021
by Charles Kuffner.

We’ll see how long that lasts.

Texas Democrats on Saturday blocked a quorum in the House for the third time this year as the Legislature kicked off its second special legislative session called to pass the GOP elections bill, among other legislation — though it’s unclear this time whether those members intend to remain absent for the entire overtime round.

Both the House and Senate convened at noon, a day after gaveling out from the first 30-day special session, which began in July and ended in an impasse when over 50 Democrats in the lower chamber left the state for Washington D.C. to prevent the passage of a elections bill. That departure meant the House could not have a quorum to conduct official business. Democrats broke quorum for the first time in May when they walked out of the chamber in the final hours of the regular session to prevent passage of a similar version of the bill.

[…]

On Saturday afternoon, at least 26 House Democrats announced that they intend to remain in D.C. to continue pushing Congress to act on a federal voting bill, but that number alone is not enough to break quorum in the Legislature.

“Texas Republicans can only succeed in their nationally coordinated assault on our democracy if Democrats are present at the state capitol,” read a statement from state Reps. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, Gina Hinojosa of Austin, Alma Allen of Houston and others. “26 Texas House Democrats will be part of an active presence in Washington maintained for as long as Congress is working and making progress on federal voting rights legislation to see this fight through.”

The House adjourned for the day minutes after gaveling in on Saturday afternoon, but they did not yet adopt what’s known as a “call of the House,” a procedural move that would lock the chamber doors and enable lawmakers to send law enforcement after the Democrats who don’t show up. During the first special session that ended Friday, the chamber voted overwhelmingly to issue the call, though it carried little weight since state authorities lack jurisdiction outside of Texas. Ultimately, no Democrats were arrested.

Two of 57 Democrats who left during that first special session were on the House floor Saturday — Eddie Lucio III of Brownsville and Bobby Guerra of Mission.

After the chamber adjourned, Lucio told reporters he returned to Austin for both professional and personal reasons. He said he anticipated several of his Democratic colleagues to also come back to the chamber in the coming days, which could help the House make quorum “as early as this week.”

“I made my personal choice to bring the fight back to the Capitol, and I think everyone needs to make that decision for themselves,” Lucio said. “For those that are gone, I applaud them.”

See here, here, and here for some background. Whatever happens with the Democrats happens at this point. They did what they could in DC, and I doubt there was much value in staying around while Congress is on recess. And at least in the short term, there’s another factor that will limit what the House can do:

Looking at the picture (a copy of the official summary is here), I see seven names that I know are Republicans who are not present, and another four or five that I don’t recognize and would have to check. Doesn’t mean they are in quarantine, though one of them surely is, but that could be another delaying factor.

Also of interest from this story: Senate shenanigans.

The Republican-dominated Senate then pushed through two rule changes that indicate the chamber’s desire to move through its agenda quickly. The first change takes away the “tag rule,” which is a delaying tactic for Democrats in the minority party because it allows members to demand 48 hours of written notice before a bill gets a hearing. The other change allows committees to skip public hearings on House bills that have the same subject as Senate bills the committee had already considered.

Sen. Charles Schwertner, R- Georgetown, said the temporary rule change, which will be in effect for the entire special session, would benefit senators by expediting the legislative process during the 30-day period. But Democratic lawmakers said it could deny constituents the opportunity to express their opinions on important issues.

“We are not giving people the opportunity to be heard,” said Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio.

Schwertner said the move allowed the Senate “maximum flexibility” to complete its work, particularly because it is unclear when the House will regain its quorum and many of the bills on the special session agenda were heard before during two earlier legislative sessions this year.

The Senate then suspended its rule requiring 24-hour notice before a committee hearing and announced three committee meetings on Saturday that immediately started hearing bills without public testimony.

The Senate did not immediately take up the elections bill, which was one of the main drivers for the special session. That bill is scheduled for a hearing on Monday at 9 a.m. in the Senate State Affairs committee.

Hey, the Senate and Dan Patrick were never interested in public input on any of their crappy bills, that much has been clear from the beginning. As for the rest:

Yeah, that’s your Texas Senate and your Lite Guv, Dan Patrick. What are you going to do about it? (Hint: It should involve getting way involved in the 2022 elections.)

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4 Comments

  1. Jason Hochman says:
    August 9, 2021 at 9:58 am

    When is Abbott gonna give up his dream of voter suppression? You can still use your death certificate for your ID, so the Democrats shouldn’t be worried.

  2. Kibitzer says:
    August 9, 2021 at 11:02 am

    RED MEAT AND BLUE UNDERDOG BLUES

    RE: “Hint: It should involve getting way involved in the 2022 elections.”

    That sounds hollow. Tex-Dems have no candidate, at least not for Governor, nor a party program for 2022. Are they even interested in offering something of substance?

    When not going acutely rabid on Republican red meat like Pavlovian blue dogs, do Texas Democrats have any fresh items for the menu — any constructive proposal at all — for state government and public policy? For grid reliability, as an example?

    At least Beto is saving Democracy in the meantime. And only two of the Dems-in-Exil in DC broke ranks and jetted off to Portugal. So all hope is not lost.

    Maybe one day, if Democracy survives, there will be something worth voting for on the ballot.

    BTW: The WSJ had an interesting piece on Pavlov’s dog studies and mind control in the REVIEW section of last weekend’s edition.

    Joel Dimsdale, Can Stimulating Brains Lead to Controlling Them. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Aug 7-8, 2021). The author is an emeritus prof. of psychiatry and has book forthcoming on the topic. DARK COERCION: A HISTORY OF BRAINWASHING FROM PAVLOV TO SOCIAL MEDIA.

  3. Jason Hochman says:
    August 9, 2021 at 11:56 am

    Kibitzer, exactly. Democrats have nothing to offer, other than Trump very very bad and we are not Trump.

    Pavlov knew that isolation, eliminating distractions was the way to train a dog. That is why they want to shut everything down, isolate people, make them go on the Internet for everything, and then they can control the information, by deeming it disinformation and censoring it.

  4. Dissension in the ranks – Off the Kuff says:
    August 10, 2021 at 4:37 am

    […] still no quorum, though the more Dems that make like these colleagues, and the more Republicans who come off the COVID quarantine list, that may not be the case for much longer. Pick a plan and stick with it, that’s all […]