52 Democrats Walk Out of Senate -- Speaker orders Arrest

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/1906120

May 12, 2003, 12:24PM


Walkout by angry Democrats halts work at Texas House
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle




AUSTIN -- Outnumbered by House Republicans determined to pass a congressional redistricting bill, 52 Democrats went into hiding today to keep the House from meeting.

At about 10:10 a.m., Speaker Tom Craddick ordered the House chamber locked so no one could leave. At 10:30, he ordered the House sergeant at arms to use whatever means he had available to arrest the missing members and bring them back to the House. Typically, the Texas Department of Public Safety is called in to carry out that order.

The House walkout not only blocked the redistricting bill, but any action on all other bills on the calendar. The House cannot convene without at least two-thirds of the membership, or 100 members, present on the House floor under legislative rules.

The crisis erupted this morning when, less than 30 minutes before the Texas House was due to convene, the letters of 52 Democrats were delivered to the Republican leadership informing them they would not be present.

It was not immediately clear why the other 10 Democrats in the House are not participating in the walkout, but many of those 10 are aligned with GOP House Speaker Tom Craddick. There are 88 Republicans in the House for a total of 150 members.

The Democrats' letters were uniform, all saying, "Please lock my voting machine until I physically return to the House floor and advise you personally that I wish my voting machine to be unlocked."

One of the organizers told the San Antonio Express-News in today's editions that the action was planned as retaliation against the Legislature's Republican leadership.

The lawmakers were preparing for the trip Sunday night and were packing clothes to allow them to stay away for four days, a legislative source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. That would put them past the deadline for preliminary passage of major pending bills that have been termed a priority by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

"We're leaving, and we'll stay gone 'til Thursday," one member from South Texas, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper.

Craddick spokesman Bob Richter said a special legislative session would have to be held immediately after the regular session ends June 2.

Several of the legislators who planned to be absent said they were expecting the worst.

"I guess we will be called obstructionists, or maybe worse. But we are making a statement," said a South Texas legislator. "If this is going to be the only way to stop bad legislation from being rammed down our throats, then so be it."

The latest group of quorum-busters planned to leave the state to avoid having state police detain them and forcibly return them to the House floor, if necessary.

"DPS or the Rangers can't exactly come get us if we are outside of Texas," said one legislator.

Several sources said some of the members were to board a plane leaving from a Central Texas airport to rural Oklahoma. A separate group would fly to New Mexico, while a third group left by bus for New Mexico, according to the sources.

The breaking of a quorum hasn't been used in more than 20 years as a parliamentary maneuver, officials said. The Democratic walkout to block redistricting is reminiscent of the 1979 "Killer Bees" walkout in the Texas Senate.

Twelve Democratic senators went into hiding to break the Senate quorum. By doing so, they killed a bill to move the Texas primary date so it would benefit former Gov. John Connally's Republican presidential bid in 1980.

Carlos Truan, one of the original Senate "Killer Bees," said such drastic tactics aren't for the faint of heart.

"They better be prepared to pay the political consequences for their actions, because there will be a hell of a price to pay," said Truan of Corpus Christi, who no longer serves in the Senate. "Breaking a quorum is a very, very major thing."

The proposed redistricting bill is being pushed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. DeLay says the congressional districts should reflect Texas voting patterns that have resulted in GOP control of the Legislature and every statewide office.

Democrats currently have a 17-15 majority in the state's congressional delegation. The redistricting plan before the House would allow Republicans to take four to seven of those seats away from Democrats in the next elections.

The Texas Democratic Party plans to hold a rally at noon on the south steps of the Capitol to show support for the walkout.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Avoiding the redistricting debate -- because I haven't read much on the disagreement....

I think this is pretty childish. These people were elected to represent their constituants. Rather than debating the issue, and working within the political process, they walk out. If 2/3 of the State Senate disagrees, fine. You make your point known and move on. That's the democratic process.

What these representatives, who we elected and pay, are saying is, "I'm losing this game, so I'm taking my ball and going home so everyone loses."

Of note -- not mentioned in the article -- This also short circuts all other bills on the docket, including several budget measures which the state needs to balance the budget. School financing, health care, etc. all out the window for this session. PLUS -- everyone will have to come back and work in a later special session.

I'd also like to congradulate the 12 Democratic Representaitives who did not participate in this walkout. They are in the house, representing their consituents, as we speak.

 

Probably should, but it's the same debate that comes up every 10 years. However, the walk-out is more an issue about power than about the issue itself. No group should walk out in order to short circut the process. It's childish. Many of these people are leaving the state in order to halt our state legislature.

The quarum rules were put in place to prevent issues from being debated without adequite representation -- to prevent a group in power from meeting without representation from minority groups. In other words, that rule protects the boycotting group, making sure that they can be involved in the debate and vote. They are using this rule designed to protect them, to circumvent the process.

Rocket River -- I tried to put "arrests". It was probably too long and was cropped.