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lapsedmodernistThis is like something out of a Simpsons' episode
AUSTIN, Texas — State troopers found Democratic lawmakers in Oklahoma after they brought the Texas House (search) to a standstill by going into hiding, but the legislators declined to return to the state Capitol.
The Republican leaders sent the troopers to Ardmore, Okla., on Monday to ask the Democrats to return. The lawmakers left Austin on Sunday, after days of strategizing to waylay a contentious GOP-led battle to redraw the state's congressional lines.
The absence of the 58 Democrats denied the House its required 100-member quorum. The boycott capped months of tension between Democrats and the newly-in-control Republicans over a bill to limit lawsuits and a GOP budget that would make deep spending cuts without raising taxes.
The missing Democratic lawmakers spent Monday in a hotel conference room, where large sheets of paper taped to the walls were used as makeshift chalkboards and long tables were filled with laptop computers, stacks of papers and notebooks.
They said they discussed school financing, homeowners insurance and other issues and planned to resume the work sessions Tuesday.
"It was a working day," said Rep. Pete Gallego.
The Texas House cannot convene without at least 100 of the 150 members present, and 58 of the 62 Democrats were absent Monday. There are 88 Republicans.
The Democrats' presence at the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, about 30 miles north of the Texas border, was discovered late Monday. It wasn't clear how many of the 58 were there.
Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick (search) called the move disgraceful and said Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were sent to the hotel to tell the Democrats to return to Austin. House rules allow for the arrest of members who intentionally thwart a quorum.
Craddick said he made a plane available to Democrats who choose to come back. The troopers have no legal authority to arrest them since they are outside Texas; the Democrats declined to return.
The Democrats said they were taking a stand for fair treatment of the minority party. They said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had pushing the Texas House to take up the issue of Congressional redistricting instead of more pressing matters.
"There are some issues that are important to us, important to all Texans," Gallego said. "If the leadership will agree to take up those issues and agree to put redistricting aside, it would make it a lot easier."
Redistricting had been scheduled on the House calendar for Monday. According to House rules, the deadline for preliminarily votes on House bills is midnight Wednesday. After that, it would take a favorable vote by two-thirds of the House to get legislation to the floor for a vote.
Missing the deadline will stymie several bills that have been dubbed as emergency legislation, including an insurance reform measure. A budget-balancing government reorganization proposal also has been put on hold.
Midnight Monday was the deadline for legislation to get out of committee. That deadline came and went without meetings, said Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry (search) lambasted the Democrats for deserting the Legislature, saying "we might as well shut this building down and let it become a museum because the work of the people is through."
The remaining House Republicans spent hours of idle time locked in the chamber constructing signs and gimmicks ridiculing their Democratic colleagues. A pair of milk cartons circulated around the chamber, plastered with the faces of missing Democrats.
Several Republicans complained that they never used such drastic measures when the GOP was the minority party.
With three weeks left in the legislative session, Craddick said Perry assured him he would call a special session after the regular session ends June 2 if it's needed.
Senate president Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a Republican, said his chamber would pick up the pace to try to pass some revenue-generating bills and legislation authorizing the continued existence of several state agencies. Those measures had been scheduled in the House this week.
The walkout came 24 years to the month since a group of 12 Texas state senators defied then-Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby by refusing to show up at the Capitol.
Some of the "Killer Bees," as the 12 Democrats came to be known, hid out in a west Austin garage apartment while troopers, Texas Rangers and legislative sergeants-at-arms unsuccessfully combed the state for them.
ALSO
Texas Trooper Arrests Absent House Democrat
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
AUSTIN — A state trooper has arrested a missing Texas House Democrat and returned her to the Capitol.
News Eight Austin reports the trooper from the Texas Department of Public Safety captured state Rep. Helen Giddings (search) this morning.
It reported the trooper approached the Dallas Democrat as she was getting into her car at her Austin apartment. She later said she had asked to be allowed to drive to the Capitol in her own car, but the trooper refused and arrested her.
She has been missing from the House since House Democrats began a boycott of House proceedings yesterday. While she wasn't among the 53 Democrats who signed an absence notice, she said she was absent in support of the 53.
Fifty-six House Democrats are now missing as the boycott continues to deny the body a quorum and block any legislative action. The boycott began yesterday, when a Republican-backed congressional redistricting bill was set for debate.
AUSTIN, Texas — State troopers found Democratic lawmakers in Oklahoma after they brought the Texas House (search) to a standstill by going into hiding, but the legislators declined to return to the state Capitol.
The Republican leaders sent the troopers to Ardmore, Okla., on Monday to ask the Democrats to return. The lawmakers left Austin on Sunday, after days of strategizing to waylay a contentious GOP-led battle to redraw the state's congressional lines.
The absence of the 58 Democrats denied the House its required 100-member quorum. The boycott capped months of tension between Democrats and the newly-in-control Republicans over a bill to limit lawsuits and a GOP budget that would make deep spending cuts without raising taxes.
The missing Democratic lawmakers spent Monday in a hotel conference room, where large sheets of paper taped to the walls were used as makeshift chalkboards and long tables were filled with laptop computers, stacks of papers and notebooks.
They said they discussed school financing, homeowners insurance and other issues and planned to resume the work sessions Tuesday.
"It was a working day," said Rep. Pete Gallego.
The Texas House cannot convene without at least 100 of the 150 members present, and 58 of the 62 Democrats were absent Monday. There are 88 Republicans.
The Democrats' presence at the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, about 30 miles north of the Texas border, was discovered late Monday. It wasn't clear how many of the 58 were there.
Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick (search) called the move disgraceful and said Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were sent to the hotel to tell the Democrats to return to Austin. House rules allow for the arrest of members who intentionally thwart a quorum.
Craddick said he made a plane available to Democrats who choose to come back. The troopers have no legal authority to arrest them since they are outside Texas; the Democrats declined to return.
The Democrats said they were taking a stand for fair treatment of the minority party. They said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had pushing the Texas House to take up the issue of Congressional redistricting instead of more pressing matters.
"There are some issues that are important to us, important to all Texans," Gallego said. "If the leadership will agree to take up those issues and agree to put redistricting aside, it would make it a lot easier."
Redistricting had been scheduled on the House calendar for Monday. According to House rules, the deadline for preliminarily votes on House bills is midnight Wednesday. After that, it would take a favorable vote by two-thirds of the House to get legislation to the floor for a vote.
Missing the deadline will stymie several bills that have been dubbed as emergency legislation, including an insurance reform measure. A budget-balancing government reorganization proposal also has been put on hold.
Midnight Monday was the deadline for legislation to get out of committee. That deadline came and went without meetings, said Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry (search) lambasted the Democrats for deserting the Legislature, saying "we might as well shut this building down and let it become a museum because the work of the people is through."
The remaining House Republicans spent hours of idle time locked in the chamber constructing signs and gimmicks ridiculing their Democratic colleagues. A pair of milk cartons circulated around the chamber, plastered with the faces of missing Democrats.
Several Republicans complained that they never used such drastic measures when the GOP was the minority party.
With three weeks left in the legislative session, Craddick said Perry assured him he would call a special session after the regular session ends June 2 if it's needed.
Senate president Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a Republican, said his chamber would pick up the pace to try to pass some revenue-generating bills and legislation authorizing the continued existence of several state agencies. Those measures had been scheduled in the House this week.
The walkout came 24 years to the month since a group of 12 Texas state senators defied then-Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby by refusing to show up at the Capitol.
Some of the "Killer Bees," as the 12 Democrats came to be known, hid out in a west Austin garage apartment while troopers, Texas Rangers and legislative sergeants-at-arms unsuccessfully combed the state for them.
ALSO
Texas Trooper Arrests Absent House Democrat
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
AUSTIN — A state trooper has arrested a missing Texas House Democrat and returned her to the Capitol.
News Eight Austin reports the trooper from the Texas Department of Public Safety captured state Rep. Helen Giddings (search) this morning.
It reported the trooper approached the Dallas Democrat as she was getting into her car at her Austin apartment. She later said she had asked to be allowed to drive to the Capitol in her own car, but the trooper refused and arrested her.
She has been missing from the House since House Democrats began a boycott of House proceedings yesterday. While she wasn't among the 53 Democrats who signed an absence notice, she said she was absent in support of the 53.
Fifty-six House Democrats are now missing as the boycott continues to deny the body a quorum and block any legislative action. The boycott began yesterday, when a Republican-backed congressional redistricting bill was set for debate.
