Gov. Greg Abbott said he vows to call special sessions after Texas Democratic lawmakers fled to Washington, D.C. to stop a vote on an election security bill.
“I will keep calling special sessions until we address every emergency item—including funding for foster care, property tax relief and bail reform. The Democrats’ decision to break quorum inflicts harm on the very Texans who elected them to serve,” Abbott said in a Twitter post.
The absentee lawmakers remain in the nation’s capital while the special session that began on July 8 continues back home, according to a Fox News article.
A photograph of the legislators inside a private jet has garnered condemnation on social media, according to Fox News.
Six lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19 though they were fully vaccinated, according to Fox News.
“We miss our families. We miss our constituents. We miss our beautiful state. But nothing will stop us from defending the sacred right to vote. #TexasDemocrats,” Rep. James Talarico said in a Twitter post.
Talarico said that they are seeing a difference and intend to stay in D.C.
“It’s been 18 days since we broke quorum to kill the Texas voter suppression bill. We’re making progress here in Washington. After weeks of pushing Congress to pass federal voting rights protections for our constituents, we’re seeing movement,” he said in a Twitter post.
The Texas House Democrats who left held a news conference marking being halfway through the special session they were blocking and said that they plan on staying for the entirety of the session, the Fox News article said.
“Yes, we even miss our Republican colleagues. We miss working with them on policy—not conspiracy theories about stolen elections, trans children or critical race theory. Many of them are my friends. But like any good friend, I won’t enable them as they walk down this path,” Talarico said in a Twitter post.
