In July, 61 Texas House Democrats left Texas for Washington, D.C. to avoid voting on a reform bill. As they remain absent, representatives are still being paid their per diem.
During the first special session, while Texas Democrats were in Washington, D.C., the Austin Journal reported that the representatives were still collecting their per diem pay of $221 per day, paid by Texas taxpayers.
ABC13 also reported that the absent Democrat lawmakers collected their per diem during the first special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott.
At a rate of $221 per day, each absent lawmaker collected $6,630 during the first special session, which lasted 30 days. Totaling up the 67 Democrats in the House, the expense grows to $444,210 and increases to $994,500 when all 150 members are counted.
Recently, Abbott issued a call for a second special session, which commenced on Aug. 7 after the earlier session expired. The missing Democrats have remained absent so far to prevent a quorum.
The first vote back in July, which recognized a lack of quorum, indicated that only 80 members of the House were present, meaning that 70 members were absent.
As the debate between Texas political figures continues, recent activity in the House indicates that 95 members were present, an increase over the initial quorum break. However, this means that 55 members are still absent while other members of the House continue to urge the missing Democrats to return to their duties.
"Your vote is your voice, and if you don't have a voice in your representation, you can't advocate for any other issues," State Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) said in a statement to ABC13.
Many of the Democrats have pledged to return their per diem, but so far there is no evidence that any representative has done so.