Texas GOP tells Dems stalling redistricting vote to pick up paychecks in person, Internet says ‘fire them'

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Republican Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows has introduced a policy aimed at punishing Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a controversial redistricting plan.

The new rule requires any member absent for the purpose of breaking quorum to collect their salary and daily per diem in person at the Capitol, rather than receiving direct deposits.

Burrows, alongside Comptroller Kelly Hancock, announced the change on Friday, August 8, adding that 30% of each absent member’s monthly operating budget will also be withheld from use.

Texas Republicans tighten pay rules to pressure absent Democrats

Burrows told the chamber that he, along with Hancock, “have enacted a new policy stating that any member absent for the purposes of breaking quorum will no longer have their paycheck or per diem deposited electronically.”

“While the Constitution forbids us from withholding pay, it does not dictate how we issue the pay. Those checks must now be picked up in person, on Capitol grounds, effective immediately,” he said, adding that 30% of each “quorum-breaking member's monthly operating budget will be reserved and made unavailable for expenditure.”

Republican leaders are also freezing Democrats’ monthly operating budgets.

“Absent members must also appear in person to receive approval for travel reimbursements or access other House services,” Burrows explained.

According to the Texas Constitution, the 150-member House needs a quorum of at least two-thirds of its members to conduct business or pass legislation. Democrats hold 62 seats in the GOP-controlled chamber, and at least 51 of them left the state, House Democratic Caucus spokesperson Josh Rush Nisenson previously said.

Friday marked the third time in a week the House failed to reach quorum, with just 95 members present — five short of the minimum. The political showdown has drawn national attention, prompting responses from the FBI and governors in other states.

“We are continuing to explore new avenues to compel a quorum, and will keep pressing forward until the job is done,” Burrows told the members in attendance, indicating that another item on the agenda needed their attention, namely disaster relief for floods that plagued the state last month.

“Every hour you remain away is time stolen from those Texans in need,” he said, referring to the redistricting bill that Republicans have attached to flooding relief.

Governor Greg Abbott has even asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, one of the lawmakers who has been staying in Illinois to avoid the vote.

Wu scoffed at the threat. “Members of the legislature are paid $600 a month. Foregoing our monthly salary is a far smaller cost than the price of inaction,” he said in a statement.

Illinois Gov JB Pritzker has called the threats “grandstanding,” saying his state will protect the Texas Democrats and that the civil complaints issued in Texas have no bearing on Illinois.

The impasse shows no sign of easing as Republicans push to secure the numbers needed to pass the new congressional map.

Internet furious at absent Texas Democrats

Texas House Republicans’ move to withhold pay from Democrats who fled the state to block a redistricting vote has sparked a wave of online debate.

Many users argued lawmakers shouldn’t be compensated if they’re not present for votes.

“How is it that if WE stopped going to our jobs and hid in another state, we wouldn't get paid. Yet, they still do,” one wrote.

Another went further, “They are not actually working so therefore they shouldn't be getting any paycheck. Their pay should be withheld for the period of time that they are gone and by withheld I mean they never get any of it ever. They don't start receiving a paycheck until they're back in quite frankly you don't want them back. Just arrest them and put them in prison with a 20-year prison sentence and with a felony conviction on their record. Have the office vacated and appoint who you damn well choose.”

“So they still get paid for not doing their jobs?” one asked sarcastically.

Another bluntly called it, “The sooner it ends for the Dems the better off it is for this nation and it's belief that nobody is above the law."

“They should not even be getting paid. The only thing I can think of is he’s doing that so they can be arrested. Let’s hope that’s his reason,” one user wrote.

One user penned, “Nothing get a democrat back into the office faster then missing out on their paycheck.”

Another suggested, "Just fire them. They’re derelict in duty. Bye most of these people are getting rich in office anyway, it’s not like they need their paychecks."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online