Good morning, 

The only place Texas House Democrats could go to find accolades for their cowardly behavior was Washington, D.C. Austin’s sewer-rats are the toast of the Biden swamp.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, July 14, 2021
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Busted Quorum, Day Two Begins

• Of the Democrats who busted the Texas House quorum, 24 were hand-picked by Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to serve on his leadership team in positions ranging from Speaker Pro Tempore to the chairmen and vice-chairmen of key committees like Ways & Means and Public Education.
     
• After the “Number of the Day” you will find the full list of House Democrats who busted the legislative quorum rather than debate public policy proposals.
       
• As Jeramy Kitchen explains, when a quorum is not present the Texas Constitution allows the remaining lawmakers to issue a call and compel the attendance of their absent colleagues. By a vote of 76-4, the House sergeant-at-arms was authorized yesterday to secure a quorum “under warrant of arrest if necessary.”
       
• The four voting “no” were also the only Democrats in attendance:  State Reps. Ryan Guillen (Rio Grande City), Tracy King (Uvalde), Eddie Morales (Eagle Pass), and John Turner (Dallas).
   
• It should be noted that the arrest authority does not extend beyond the state lines.

Republicans Let It Happen

• It is all the rage in Austin for Republican lawmakers to pound tables in anger over Democrats’ busting the quorum and heading to Washington, DC. There are suddenly chest-beating calls for “punishment” of the ne’er-do-well “DemocRATs.” Yet this is all mainly for show.
        
• Democrats have chairmanships and power in the Texas House only because the Republican majority has allowed it. There are no rules in place to punish quorum-busters because Republicans explicitly and directly refused to do so.
     
• None of this was unexpected. Democrats have busted quorums in the Texas Legislature before to stop work on redistricting and election integrity – including this year! Everyone knew it would happen again.
      
• In the first week of the regular session, State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) proposed a rules change to prevent Democrats from serving as committee chairmen. His Republican colleague, Briscoe Cain (R- Deer Park) opposed the measure, saying there were Democrats he’d rather have chairing committees than Republicans. He dismissed the amendment as trying to turn Austin into D.C. (Now, of course, those Democrats that Cain wanted as committee chairmen are in D.C. thwarting Texans’ legislative priorities.)
      
• On the first day of this special session, State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) offered an amendment to the rules to punish anyone who participated in busting the quorum. He was ignored by his House GOP leadership colleagues.
      
• Yesterday, Tinderholt started to make a motion to punish the absent members but was shot down by the House leadership. House Speaker Phelan told the chamber he simply did not have the authority to strip the absent Democrats of the chairmanships he himself had given them.
      
• Not so, responded the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, Matt Rinaldi – who is a former member of the legislature. He pointed out that under the Rules of the House the speaker “has a right to remove any chair he himself appointed.”
   
• It begs the question: Exactly whose side is Dade Phelan on?

Proudly Waving The White Flag Of Surrender

• State Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-Bryan) thinks Democrats should be given “a victory or two” so they will want to return to Texas. Brandon Waltens reports on the interview Kacal gave a local TV station about the situation in the Capitol. 
     

• “The Democrats told us that they would walk out if they weren’t happy, and apparently they’re not happy,” said Kacal. “They are walking out, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to return. We need to have some communication and come up with a moderated deal that brings everybody to the table and makes sure they have a victory or two.”
   

• Because appeasement always works…

Texas Senate Got Work Done

• While the House is playing partisan games, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and members of the Senate have been busy. Even though nine Senate Democrats didn’t show up on Tuesday, the chamber still had a quorum and went to work.
   
• That included – most notably – debating a comprehensive election integrity bill by Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) similar to what senators had passed in the regular session. Erin Anderson has the details.
   
• “How much fraud is okay? None. How much suppression is okay? None. That’s why this bill makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat.” – State Sen. Hughes
     
• Senators also passed a supplemental payment – a so-called “13th check” – for retired teachers.

Protecting Girls’ Sports

• Meanwhile, the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee has given its approval to legislation that will ensure male students would not be allowed to compete on designated women’s sports teams.
     
• As Jacob Asmussen reports, the proposed law says Texas’ public K-12 schools and universities “may not allow a student to compete in an interscholastic athletic competition sponsored or authorized by the institution that is designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex.”

Free Speech Win!

• In the latest edition of the Luke Macias Show, learn about the big federal court win for free speech that almost no one is talking about. Luke chats with attorney Mark Pulliam about the successful lawsuit he filed challenging the State Bar of Texas.

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Who do you hold responsible for the Democrats’ thwarting of the special session agenda?

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!

Democrats Who Busted The House Quorum

(Click the legislator’s name for social media accounts and phone numbers.)

Alma Allen (Houston)
Rafael Anchia (Dallas) –  Chairman: Pensions, Investments, & Financial Services Committee
Michelle Beckley (Carrollton)
Diego Bernal (San Antonio) – Vice Chairman: Public Education Committee
Rhetta Bowers (Rowlett)
John Bucy III (Cedar Park)
Liz Campos (San Antonio)
Terry Canales (Edinburg) – Chairman: Transportation Committee
Sheryl Cole (Austin)
Garnet Coleman (Houston) – Chairman: County Affairs Committee
Nicole Collier (Ft. Worth) – Chairman: Criminal Jurisprudence Committee
Philip Cortez (San Antonio) – Chairman: Urban Affairs Committee
Jasmine Crockett (Dallas)
Yvonne Davis (Dallas) – Vice Chairman: Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee
Joe Deshotel (Beaumont) – Chairman: Land & Resource Management Committee
Alex Dominguez (Brownsville)
Harold Dutton Jr. (Houston) – Chairman: Public Education Committee
Art Fierro (El Paso)
Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (San Antonio) – Vice Chairman: Culture, Recreation, & Tourism Committee
Jessica Gonzalez (Dallas) – Vice Chairman: Elections Committee
Mary Gonzalez (El Paso) – Vice Chairman: Appropriations Committee
Vicki Goodwin (Austin)
Bobby Guerra (Mission)
Ana Hernandez (Houston) – Vice Chairman: State Affairs Committee
Abel Herrero (Robstown) – Vice Chairman: Energy Resources Committee
Gina Hinojosa (Austin) – Vice Chairman: Human Services Committee
Donna Howard (Austin)
Celia Israel (Austin)
Ann Johnson (Houston)
Jarvis Johnson (Houston)
Julie Johnson (Carrollton)
Oscar Longoria (Mission)
Ray Lopez (San Antonio)
Eddie Lucio III (Brownsville)
Armando Martinez (Weslaco)
Trey Martinez-Fischer (San Antonio)
Terry Meza (Irving)
Ina Minjarez (San Antonio)
Joe Moody (El Paso) – Speaker Pro Tempore; Vice Chairman: Calendars Committee
Christina Morales (Houston)
Penny Morales-Shaw (Houston)
Sergio Munoz Jr. (Mission)
Victoria Neave (Dallas) – Chairman: Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee; Vice Chairman: General Investigating Committee
Claudia Ordaz Perez (El Paso)
Lina Ortega (El Paso)
Leo Pacheco (San Antonio) – Vice Chairman: Higher Education Committee
Mary Ann Perez (Houston)
Ana-Maria Ramos (Richardson)
Richard Pena Raymond (Laredo) – Chairman: Defense & Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Ron Reynolds (Missouri City)
Eddie Rodriguez (Austin)
Ramon Romero Jr. (Ft. Worth)
Toni Rose (Dallas) – Vice Chairman: Redistricting Committee
Jon Rosenthal (Houston)
Carl Sherman Sr. (DeSoto)
James Talarico (Round Rock)
Shawn Thierry (Houston) – Vice Chairman: Ways & Means Committee
Senfronia Thompson (Houston) – Chairman: Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee; Vice Chairman: S/C on Constitutional Rights & Remedies
Chris Turner (Grand Prairie) – Chairman: Business & Industry Committee; Chairman: House Democrat Caucus
Hubert Vo (Houston) – Vice Chairman: Insurance Committee
Armando Walle (Houston)
Gene Wu (Houston)
Erin Zwiener (Driftwood)