Texas Republicans voted Monday to increase penalties for fellow House members who break quorum. Under the new rules, future quorum-busters will be stripped of committee leadership positions and will be forbidden from fundraising during the period of their absence.
The bill’s author, State Rep. Matt Shaheen, says he might modify the legislation before bringing it up for a vote.
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Additional provisions that Texas Republicans will consider include lowering the threshold for a quorum down from two-thirds to a simple majority and vacating the seat of any lawmaker after seven consecutive days of unexcused absence. Furthermore, Republicans will seek to dramatically raise the daily fine assessed on quorum-breakers during those periods.
The Texas legislature nonetheless fell just shy of the two-thirds supermajority required for a formal censure of Texas Democrats who had previously fled the state in order to prevent a quorum necessary for partisan redistricting, or gerrymandering.
