A ‘Texodus’ of House Democrats To Washington, D.C. Demand Passage Of Voting Rights Legislation

Texas House Democrats have fled  the state, a “Texodus” if you will, to prevent a quorum in the state legislature in order to block the GQP “Suppression Session” from passing Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression bills in Texas.

But more than that, these Texas House Democrats are flying to Washington, D.C. to impress upon Democratic senators that they must pass the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in response to this anti-democratic, anti-majoritarian authoritarian GQP assault on American democracy.

America has some new heroes today.

CNN reported, Texas House Democrats to leave state to block Republican voting restrictions:

Texas House Democrats are preparing to leave the state Monday in an effort to block Republicans from passing a restrictive new voting law in the remaining 27 days of the special legislative session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, two sources familiar with the Democrats’ plans told CNN.

The majority of the Democrats fleeing Texas are flying to Washington, DC, on two chartered jets. They have kept planning secret because they can be legally compelled to return to the state Capitol and believed law enforcement could be sent to track them down, the sources said.

The group is “hoping” to meet with US Senate Democrats while they’re in Washington, according to a source familiar with their plans.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should call a mandatory attendance Caucus meeting this week (Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin skipped the last scheduled meeting with Texas state legislators last month).

Their move places Texas at the heart of the national fight over voting rights, with GOP state lawmakers turning former President Donald Trump’s lies about widespread voting fraud into a push for new laws that limit mail-in voting, early voting and more.

[In] Texas, minority House Democrats walked out of the final hours of this year’s legislative session, blocking Republicans from approving Senate Bill 7 — the controversial measure that would have made casting mail-in ballots harder; banned drive-thru voting centers and 24-hour voting — tactics Harris County, the home of Houston, used in the 2020 election; empowered poll watchers, made it easier for courts to overturn election results; effectively outlawed Black churches’ “souls to the polls” get out the vote push and more.

Abbott, the Republican governor who is seeking a third term in 2022, called a 30-day special legislative session, saying that “election integrity” would be one of his priorities. Majority Republicans in the House and Senate in recent days unveiled bills that closely mirrored SB 7.

State House and Senate committees advanced those bills after hearing opposition in hours-long hearings over the weekend.

The Texas Tribune updates, Texas House Democrats flee the state in move that could block voting restrictions bill, bring Legislature to a halt:

With the national political spotlight on Texas’ efforts to further restrict voting, the Democratic “Texodus” offers them a platform to continue pleading with Congress to act on restoring federal protections for voters of color. In Texas, the decamping will mark a more aggressive stance by Democrats to block Republican legislation further tightening the state’s voting rules as the GOP works against thinning statewide margins of victory.

Ultimately, Democrats lack the votes to keep the Republican-controlled Legislature from passing new voting restrictions, along with the other conservative priorities on Gov. Greg Abbott’s 11-item agenda for the special session.

Some Democrats hope their absence will give them leverage to force good-faith negotiations with Republicans [give it up! There is no good faith], who they say have largely shut them out of negotiations over the voting bill. Both chambers advanced their legislation out of committees on party-line votes after overnight hearings, passing out the bills early Sunday morning after hearing many hours of testimony mostly against the proposals and just a few days after making their revived proposals public. The bills were expected to hit the House and Senate floors for votes this week.

The House and Senate proposals resemble failed legislation, known as Senate Bill 7, from the spring regular legislation session — the demise of which Texas Democrats used last month to make their pitch on Capitol Hill for action on voting rights.

On Monday, Democrats indicated they were renewing their calls for Congress to pass far-reaching federal legislation that would preempt significant portions of the Texas bills and reinstate federal oversight of elections in states with troubling records.

“We are now taking the fight to our nation’s Capitol,” the Democrats said in their statement. “We are living on borrowed time in Texas.”

Even if Democratic lawmakers stay out of state for the next few weeks, the governor could continue to call 30-day sessions or add voting restrictions to the agenda when the Legislature takes on the redrawing of the state’s political maps later this summer.

Monday’s mass departure follows a Democratic walkout in May that kept Republicans from passing their priority voting bill at the end of the regular legislative session. For weeks, Democrats had indicated that skipping town during the special session remained an option as Republicans prepared for a second attempt at tightening the state’s voting laws.

According to House rules adopted at the beginning of the regular session, two-thirds of the 150-member chamber must be present to conduct business. When the House is in session, legislators can vote to lock chamber doors to prevent colleagues from leaving and can order law enforcement to track down lawmakers who have already fled.

If a quorum is not present when the House convenes Tuesday, any House member can move to make what’s known as a call of the House to “to secure and maintain a quorum” to consider a certain piece of legislation, resolution or motion, under chamber rules. That motion must be seconded by 15 members and ordered by a majority vote. If that happens, the missing Democrats will become legislative fugitives.

“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 rules state. “The house shall determine on what conditions they shall be discharged.”

It’s unclear, though, what options House Speaker Dade Phelan may have to compel Democrats to return to the Legislature if they’re out of state.

The House voting bill as passed by committee over the weekend would rein in local voting initiatives like drive-thru and 24-hour voting, further tighten the rules for voting by mail, bolster access for partisan poll watchers and ban local election officials from proactively sending out applications to request mail-in ballots.

The Democrats’ departure also calls into question other items included on Abbott’s special session agenda, including legislation to provide funding for the Legislature. Last month, Abbott vetoed a section of the state budget that funds the Legislature for the two-year budget cycle that starts Sept. 1. He did so in retribution for Democrats’ walkout in May. If the Legislature does not pass a supplemental budget before the new cycle begins, more than 2,100 legislative staffers and individuals working at legislative agencies could be impacted.

This is going to play out for some time. Stay tuned.

Also on Monday, Bishop William Barber II launched National Moral Mondays on the Capitol Mall for the next four weeks.

WATCH: #MoralMonday | Launching a Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action #PoorPeoplesCampaign https://t.co/q2pkGAxm6Q

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 12, 2021

We invite all partners & people who believe in justice and democracy to join us!https://t.co/cpEBof2vNJ#PoorPeoplesCampaign #MoralMonday #3rdReconstruction pic.twitter.com/vBthx2jXMj

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 12, 2021