After Gov. Greg Abbott called a second special session on Friday, House Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled in the House and no quorum was reached.
Only 97 members were present, three shy of a quorum. The House will reconvene on Monday at noon, Burrows said. In the meantime, any House Democrats returning to Texas before then should expect to be arrested, he said.
“Today’s outcome may be a win for Texans and for the rest of the governor’s call. If our absent colleagues had shown up this morning, they could have used a few remaining days to stall or possibly even block the passage of critical legislation,” he said, citing several bills on the governor’s call, including “property tax relief, protections for the unborn, safeguarding women’s private spaces, and reining in runaway local taxes.”
By following California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lead, “instead of the will of Texans,” House Democrats “have allowed us to reset the clock,” Burrows said.
Once the House makes quorum, it will “move immediately to pass a strong pro-life bill, to protect women’s spaces, and more property tax protections, without the threat of procedural gamesmanship getting in the way,” he explained. “That’s a win for the unborn women in all of Texas.”
He also said he met with parents who lost children at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, and thanked Rep. Drew Darby, R-Abilene, for filing a bill to address camp safety during the first special session. This bill passed in a House Committee; it’s companion bill passed in the Texas Senate.
Burrows asked Darby to file it again “to make sure it is the strongest, most robust possible bill there is. To show our firm support as a House,” he said, the bill was listed as HB 1, the first of 35 legislative priorities he’s identified for the second special session.
Another, he said, is HB 25, filed by state Rep. Joanne Shofner, R-Nacogdoches, to legalize the sale of over-the-counter Ivermectin.
When the House established quorum, which could be on Monday, Burrows said his 35 priority bills, including those on Gov. Abbott’s call, will be immediately referred to committees and expect to have immediate hearings next week.
“We will work to accomplish every item on the call and even some more,” he said, adding that his goal is to pass all of the bills and adjourn sign die before the Labor Day weekend.
He sent state lawmakers home but issued a warning to missing Democrats, saying, “those who have refused to make quorum … do not think you have permission to return to Texas and enjoy a peaceful weekend before finally showing up to work. DPS will remain active and civil arrest warrants will be reissued. If you are located, you will be compelled to this chamber.”
If House Democrats are arrested over the weekend, Burrows said he will ask House members who went home for the weekend to return immediately.
The House is also “calculating every fine and every dollar of expense the state has incurred as a direct result of the quorum break,” he said. “Those costs will not be borne by the Texas taxpayers. They will be paid back by absent members as provided for in our house rules.
“Showing up is half the battle and those present today will have a say in what we accomplish over the next 30 days, or hopefully fewer, so let’s be ready to work,” he added.
The House passed two motions before adjourning: a call of the house and authorizing the sergeant at arms to send for all missing Democrats to secure and maintain their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary.
Gov. Abbott said that “running and hiding from a fight is un-Texan. Democrats claim they want to pass flood relief but won’t show up to vote. Texans deserve leaders who show up, not ones who abandon their duties.”
A lawsuit he filed to remove from office the chair of the Texas Democratic Caucus, state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, is before the Texas Supreme Court.
