Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) announced new administrative changes in an attempt to force Democrats who have fled the state to return.
Texas Democrats have left the state they serve in favor of Illinois in order to avoid having to pass a redistricting plan they claim will unfairly result in more Republican districts.
Since breaking quorum — which refers to the minimum number of members required to conduct state business — the state of Texas has directed the Texas Rangers to locate the missing Democrats. The state has also worked with the FBI, while at the same time issuing arrest warrants. The Democratic representatives still have not returned.
On Friday, Speaker Burrows announced new rules that will likely put a damper on his colleagues’ trips to the Midwest.
‘They won’t be arresting anyone.’
Along with Comptroller Kelly Hancock, Burrows said he has enacted a policy that will prohibit any House member who is breaking quorum from having his or her paycheck or per diem deposited electronically.
“The Constitution forbids us from withholding pay. It does not dictate how we issue the pay,” the speaker said from his podium. “Those checks must now be picked up in person on Capitol grounds, effective immediately.”
Burrows then announced that the missing members will also be forfeiting a portion of their living and travel expenses.
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“Starting today, to safeguard taxpayer dollars and account for forthcoming liabilities … 30% of each quorum-breaking member’s monthly operating budget will be reserved and made unavailable for expenditure,” Burrows announced.
It remains to be seen if the threat of going unpaid will work on the group of Democrats who so far have been comfortable with abandoning their constituents and becoming fugitives in their own state.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said in a press conference this week that the FBI has only been authorized to locate Democrats, not arrest them, and therefore he welcomes them to come and see “the beauty of Lake Michigan.”
“They won’t be arresting anyone because there is no U.S. federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker explained.
However, Burrows said on Friday he is working on that aspect of the issue, as well.
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Burrows announced that he was collaborating with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the hopes of making the arrest warrants for Democrats “enforceable beyond Texas state lines.”
Additionally, the Texas speaker said he has contacted the sergeant at arms of the Illinois House of Representatives to request assistance in returning the absent members.
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