As ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott, the second special session of the Texas Legislature opened Saturday, and promptly adjourned until Monday, marking the continued absence of a quorum after more than 50 Democratic legislators left the state in July to avoid voting on two GOP-backed election bills.
After calling the second special session to order, House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) adjourned the proceedings until Monday, Aug. 9, citing the lack of a quorum, as reported by The Associated Press.
The absentee lawmakers were expected to remain in Washington, D.C. through Friday, Aug.6, when the first special session ended. On Thursday, Gov. Abbott announced that, as promised, he would call a second 30-day special legislative session. Only two Democratic members were present for the opening of the session, Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) and Bobby Guerra (D-Mission), with 26 representatives remaining in Washington, D.C. "as long as Congress is working," lobbying for the passage of a federal election bill, as reported by The Associated Press.
"I will keep calling special sessions until we address every emergency item — including funding for foster care, property tax relief and bail reform," Gov. Greg Abbott said July 26 on Twitter. "The Democrats’ decision to break quorum inflicts harm on the very Texans who elected them to serve."
State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Arlington), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, made allegations that Abbott's behavior was a form of blackmail, Fox News reported.
"By vetoing the legislature and then calling a special session, what Gov. Abbott is trying to do is essentially blackmail lawmakers into doing his bidding instead of protecting our constituents," Turner said at a July 23 news conference, as reported by Fox News.
Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) told Houston Public Media after the walkout that the Republican-led election bills are a threat to Texas residents and their right to vote.
"This is one of the things that Republicans have been doing for years," Wu said. "They figured out that if you just outright ban black and brown people from voting, that gets you in trouble with the courts. But what they’ve learned to do over the years is find little things here and there, and they poke at them, and they pull at them. And they make it seem like they’re not doing anything. But if you do enough of those things, you put enough small hurdles in front of people, it keeps people in minority communities, it keeps people in poor communities, it keeps people in immigrant communities, from being able to vote because there are too many barriers. And if you are unable to exercise your right, you might as well not have the right."
Some of the changes to voting rules included in Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3, as reported by the Texas Tribune, would outlaw drive-thru voting; regulate voting hours, including banning 24-hour uninterrupted windows of voting; and prohibit election officials from sending applications for voters to request a mail-in ballot, making the act a felony. In addition, the bills would enforce new ID requirements, making it mandatory for voters to provide a driver’s license number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number, on their ballot applications.
Many Republicans have responded to the Democratic boycott, with Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) puzzled by their decision to walk out, as reported by Houston Public Media.
"At the end of the day, being elected to the Texas House is about making public policy, and part of that job is policy disagreement," Middleton said in a July 15 radio broadcast of Houston Matters on Houston Public Media. "So when we have these policy disagreements, we don’t just get to run away. That’s not what our constituents put us in office to do — to run away when we disagree. We need to show up for work and get the job done."