I mean, it’s not like this will affect their credit score.
A total of 17 Democrats in the Texas House — including three now running for statewide office — are holding out on paying fines chamber leadership imposed over last summer’s quorum break to halt Gov. Greg Abbott’s redistricting efforts.
Meanwhile, some Texas Dems who did cough up the financial penalty by the May 5 deadline, including San Antonio State Rep. Diego Bernal, scrawled F.U. messages on their checks.
The three Democrats running for statewide office who haven’t yet paid their fines are U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa and Vikki Goodwin, who’s running for lieutenant governor.
The three Democrats’ individual campaigns didn’t immediately respond to the Current’s request for comment. However, if they fail to pay their fines, a portion of their official office budgets could be withheld, under House rules.
At least one San Antonio rep, outgoing lawmaker Ray Lopez, is also on the list of those who haven’t yet paid.
Meanwhile, the messages some fine-paying Democratic lawmakers left in the “memo” sections of their checks let House leadership know just how they felt, according to reporting by online news site Texas Voice.
State Rep. Ana Maria Ramos, who represents a district north of Dallas, wrote “Hijos de puta” on her check, which roughly translates to “sons of bitches.”
San Antonio’s Bernal simply wrote “B.S.” on his.
See here for some background, in which I openly wondered why Talarico and others who will not be returning to the House would bother to pay the fine. I note that Rep. Jon Rosenthal, the Democratic candidate for Railroad Commissioner, is not listed as a statewide candidate who hasn’t paid. It may just be that the author of this story overlooked him, but I will make a note to ask him about it the next time I see him. Be that as it may, my original question stands: Why would anyone who is known to not be returning to the House in January pay this? What can the Republicans do to them?
I saw it go past on Facebook (checked and it was May 12th), but Jon Rosenthal paid with the memo line “no regrets”.
It’s on the page “Texas State Representative Jon Rosenthal – District 135”.