AUSTIN, Texas — Democrats in the Texas Legislature are making plans to flee the state to derail GOP efforts to pass a sweeping elections bill, sources with knowledge of the decision told the Austin American-Statesman and other national news outlets Monday.
A group of House Democrats arranged for several chartered flights from Austin to Washington, D.C., to draw national attention to the Texas fight and pressure Congress into passing federal voting rights protections, a Democratic staff member said on condition of anonymity.
It's not clear how many lawmakers would leave the state and whether it would be enough to break quorum and stall bills.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, confirmed the flight to the Houston Chronicle, adding that they were "not coming back."
A spokeswoman for the Texas House Democratic Caucus and other Democratic lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment.
In the closing hours of the Texas Legislature's regular session that ended May 31, Democrats killed a sweeping GOP-led elections bill, Senate Bill 7, by walking off the floor in the middle of debate, breaking quorum and forcing the House to adjourn.
The unusual move not only blocked passage of the elections bill, it also meant the demise of legislation to change the state's bail system — bringing the hammer down on two legislative priorities of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who quickly vowed to bring lawmakers back to handle both items in a special session.
Another walkout would endanger a host of conservative Republican priorities that Abbott added to the agenda of the 30-day special session that began Thursday, including border security, transgender student athletes, critical race theory, abortion regulations and complaints that social media companies are censoring conservatives.
Leaving the state also would endanger funding for the Legislature and associated agencies — not to mention pay and benefits for several thousand employees — that Abbott vetoed in retaliation for the House Democrats' walkout at the close of the regular session.
Abbott's special session agenda allowed lawmakers to restore the funding before the next budget begins Sept. 1, and Republicans hoped the opportunity would keep Democrats from fleeing.
But Democrats remained committed to killing two wide-ranging GOP elections bills — both of which were passed by House and Senate committees Sunday after marathon public hearings. Senate Republicans were planning to bring SB 1, their version of the voting bill, up for a floor vote Tuesday.
SB 1 and a similar measure, House Bill 3, would ban 24-hour and late-night voting, prohibit drive-thru voting, add an identification requirement to mail-in ballots, protect partisan poll watchers' ability to move freely in polling places, and create new or stiffer penalties for voter fraud, among other provisions.
Republicans insist the changes are needed to bolster eroded confidence in election results, particularly by limiting opportunities for voter fraud.
Democrats argue that the limits would unnecessarily suppress the vote in deference to the "big lie" that widespread voter fraud denied Donald Trump a second term in the White House. Lawmakers should act to make it easier, not harder, to cast a ballot, they said.
The Texas Senate had a quorum present for its brief meeting Monday morning when three Democrats — Sens. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa of McAllen, John Whitmire of Houston and Judith Zaffirini of Laredo — joined 18 Republicans to reach the required 21 senators present.
Senate Democrats' plans are as-yet unclear.
