Texas Scorecard by Jeramy Kitchen August 9, 2021
Proposed legislation moving through the Texas Senate could make it harder for Democrats to thwart the Legislature by leaving town.Recently, a majority of House Democrat lawmakers busted quorum in the waning days of the regular 87th Legislative Session—after being enabled to do so by Republican leadership. This ultimately ended the legislative prospects of several bills, including two of Abbott’s emergency legislative items. In many respects, this event prompted the first called special legislative session, which began in early July. Five days into that first special session, a majority of Democrat lawmakers again busted quorum and paralyzed the House for the remainder of that special session.
When the second called special legislative session began on Saturday, the House once again attempted to convene without the attendance necessary to conduct legislative business. In contrast, the Senate, with all members present, immediately referred bills to their respective committees and simultaneously suspended rules to allow them to consider those bills in committees over the weekend.
Over the weekend, Senate committees considered 12 bills related to Abbott’s agenda, voting many of them out for impending consideration by the overall Senate.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/bipartisan-senate-committee-approves-bill-to-change-quorum-requirements/
