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Democratic state legislators in Texas will flee the state in order to deny Republicans in Austin the opportunity to pass new election laws, they said Monday.
"Texas House Democrats stand united in our decision to break quorum and refuse to let the Republican-led legislature force through dangerous legislation that would trample on Texans' freedom to vote," a statement signed by caucus leaders read.
Republicans are rushing to pass new election laws in a special session called by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, after attempts to pass a bill crumbled during the previous session earlier this year.
Their first attempt was undermined by GOP infighting and a last-minute walkout from state House Democrats.
Republicans have been moving quickly during the special session to try again, with legislators in both chambers introducing legislation almost immediately. Committees in both the state House and the state Senate voted over the weekend to advance bills, meaning they could get a vote on the floor of their respective chambers sometime this week, if there was a quorum.
Some of the lawmakers are flying to Washington to meet with members of Congress and urge them to pass federal voting-rights legislation. “We have a full working week of member dialogue. We will be meeting with congressional leaders, civil rights activists, voting rights activists,” state Democratic Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer told POLITICO on a call from the tarmac, minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off.
"We are living on borrowed time in Texas," the caucus leaders' statement said, adding that they hoped Congress would pass two bills proposed by Democrats to "to protect Texans — and all Americans — from the Trump Republicans’ nationwide war on democracy.”
The bills advanced this past weekend contained many similar provisions to SB7, the election legislation that failed earlier in the year, which would have added several new restrictions to voting in the state.
Even if Democrats do successfully block a quorum for the special session, it may not be the end of the road for Republicans’ efforts to pass election legislation. Abbott could continue to call special sessions, and there is already another session planned for later in the year to deal with redistricting.
State House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, acknowledged Democrats’ second attempt to break a quorum in a statement.
“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” and other priorities, he said. “I expect all Members to be present in our Capitol in order to immediately get to work on these issues.”
State House rules do allow the speaker to order the doors locked and the sergeant-at-arms to hunt down missing members, something he did not pursue when Democrats walked out during the regular session.
When asked if Phelan would look to send law enforcement officials to wrangle missing lawmakers, a spokesperson for his office pointed to the state House rules. “Pages 86-88 can be helpful for your inquiry,” Enrique Marquez, the spokesperson, emailed.
“All absentees for whom no sufficient excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found, by the sergeant-at-arms or an officer appointed by the sergeant-at-arms for that purpose, and their attendance shall be secured and retained. The house shall determine on what conditions they shall be discharged,” one section on “securing a quorum” on page 87 reads.
Last week, several Texas Democrats raised the specter of staging another walkout to try to kill the legislation. VoteBeat, a publication focused on voting and election administration, first reported the walkout plans on Monday.
The bills that Democrats are coming to Washington to advocate for are likely stuck. The two pieces of legislation, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, have no clear path forward into law.
The two bills — the former a sweeping package that would set a slew of federally mandated floors for elections, and the latter an effort to restore a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act — do not have enough support to make it out of the Senate. The For the People Act does not currently have 50 Democratic votes as written, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) calling for a smaller package, and both will face Republican-led filibusters.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday praised the Texas Democrats. Before a listening session about voting rights with Michigan leaders, Harris said she wanted to make a statement about Texas legislators who were showing "extraordinary courage and commitment."
A delegation of Texas lawmakers previously met with Harris last month, when they visited D.C. following their first walkout.
"I applaud those standing for the rights of all Americans and all Texans to express their voice through their vote, unencumbered," Harris continued. "They are leaders who are marching in the path that so many others before did, when they fought — and many died — for our right to vote."
Because the state legislative session runs for 30 days, they will have to be outside Texas for weeks. Texas Democrats left the state in 2003, staying in Oklahoma and New Mexico to try to stop the mid-decade passage of new congressional maps.
Marissa Martinez contributed to this report.
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