’The fight is here in the Texas Capitol’: Tarrant County Democrat returns to House floor
State Rep. Chris Turner, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, was back in Austin on Monday and joined by a number of other lawmakers who had been staying away from the chamber to block GOP-backed election bills.
Not on the floor were his Tarrant County colleagues, Rep. Ramon Romero, Jr. and Rep. Nicole Collier, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus.
“We’re at the next stage of the fight now, which means fighting here on the committee process and on the House floor,” Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat, told reporters when asked if plans to stay for the remainder of the session. “Obviously we always have every tool at our disposal, but right now the fight is here in the Texas Capitol, while our eyes are on our nation’s capitol also as the U.S. House prepares to take up H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights act, as early as tomorrow.”
Turner was not present earlier in the floor proceedings when a roll call of present members was taken to determine there were 100 lawmakers on the floor and a quorum was met. Later, 13 Democrats including Turner came to the floor.
The Texas House of Representatives on Thursday for the first time in more than a month announced a quorum, allowing the lawmakers to conduct business on the floor and refer bills to committee. Texas Democrats have broken quorum three times to block election bills they say would disenfranchise voters — once in May during the regular session and again in July and August.
Several Democrats have called into question the legitimacy of the quorum obtained last week, as there were members marked present who were absent from the floor. All of the members marked present had been on the floor at some point since the session started in early August, with the exception of the three Houston lawmakers. Lawmakers who were on the floor didn’t request a verification of the vote.
In a statement, a group of 34 House Democrats including Romero and Collier accused Republicans of lying about the number of lawmakers on the floor and bending the rules to get their way.
“Based on numerous media reports, it seems evident there was not a true quorum present today — ironic, given this entire session is premised around Republicans preaching about so-called voter integrity,” Turner said in a Thursday statement.
On Monday he said making sure a “true quorum” was present factored into the decision to return to Austin.
Romero on Monday said he wouldn’t be returning to the House floor. He told the Star-Telegram that he doesn’t plan to partake in any of the special sessions.
“Some of my colleagues have chosen to return now that a quorum was allegedly met last week,” he said in a statement. “I understand the desire to participate in the legislative process, but if the last few days of a quorum being met are any indication, my colleagues are simply along for the ride.”
Collier on Monday evening tweeted a photo of herself on a plane en route to Washington, D.C.
“DC bound to advocate for the freedom to vote,” she said in a tweet. “This is what the majority of HD95 ask and expect.”
Romero, who said he is currently residing in his district, Collier and Turner were among more than 50 lawmakers who went to Washington to push for federal voting rights legislation.
Romero anticipates the controversial election bill will pass this session. Lawmakers on Monday were hearing public testimony on the bill in committee. He doesn’t believe amendments offered on the floor by Democrats will ultimately make it onto the bill.
“The time for talking on the microphone is over,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to change the direction, the political hyper partisanship, until people start questioning why they support the people they support. It’s not just about our party affiliation, it has to be the nuts and bolts of what are you actually doing for me when you have an opportunity before you.”
Turner said it’s his hope that the flaws to the bill will be recognized and will lead to changes when the bill goes to the floor.
Other Democrats who returned to the floor Monday included Rafael Anchía and Rep. Toni Rose of Dallas.
Three Houston Democrats, Garnet Coleman, Ana Hernandez and Armando Walle, were on the floor for the first time Thursday when it was announced a quorum was present. Coleman, who recently had a leg amputated, did not travel to Washington, though he did turn off his voting machine while away, according to The Dallas Morning News. The lawmakers cited COVID-19’s surge across the state and a need for the legislature to respond as a reason for their return.
‘Any Member, at any time, has the right to break quorum’
A group of 32 lawmakers in a Monday statement pointed out that quorum can again be broken. They also noted that congressional leaders have asked they be present in Washington this week for the consideration of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, an invitation they accepted.
“Some of our Democratic colleagues may be returning to the House floor intermittently to object and preserve a record on the voter intimidation and suppression bill, as well as other pieces of legislation which are harmful to vulnerable Texas families,” they said. “However, we and our allies and advocates recognize that any Member, at any time, has the right to break quorum should they deem it necessary. “
Turner pushed back against the idea that there are frayed relationship among Democrats.
“You don’t pull off a near six-week quorum break without incredible unity among a caucus,” he said. “And that’s what we had for 38 days was incredible unity with more than 50 members of the Democratic Caucus, making commitment to our constituents and to one another to break quorum.”
He continued, “Our commitment was to kill the bill for the first special session. We did that. Our commitment was to use that time to rally the Congress and the American people behind this cause for voting rights and federal voting rights protection. We did that. And then we take it day-by-day in a second special session. What’s important is that our members may disagree on tactics or strategy and time zone, but we all have shared unity of purpose for shared values and we have a shared ... commitment to defending the freedom to vote.”
What’s on the agenda
Other items on the 17-item agenda include an extra paycheck for retired teachers, the allocation of federal COVID-19 dollars, border security, legislation barring transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity and legislation related to critical race theory.
The Republican Party of Texas is calling for consequences for members who have unexcused absences from the House floor. The party supports the removal of committee chair positions for Democrats who break quorum or any member with more than 15 unexcused absences. The party also wants members to be arrested if a quorum isn’t maintained.
“Democrats have played this childish political charade for far too long,” said Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the Texas Republican Party. “Now that House Republicans have the power of a quorum they should vote immediately to remove Democrat Committee Chairs and take action to maintain a quorum in the future.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 8:41 PM.
