Tex. Senate Democrats Flee Session
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59050-2003Jul28.html
Associated Press
Tuesday, July 29, 2003; Page A02
AUSTIN, July 28 -- Democratic state lawmakers fled Texas today for the second time in three months to thwart a Republican drive to redraw the state's congressional districts.
Eleven of the 12 Democrats in the state Senate left for Albuquerque as a first special session called by the governor to address redistricting drew to a close and he called a second special session.
"We're availing ourselves of a tool given to us by our Texas Constitution to break a quorum," Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos said at a hotel in Albuquerque. "It's not about Democrats, it's about democracy."
Asked how long the group might stay in New Mexico, Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo said: "Thirty days. More if it's necessary."
In May, during the regular spring session, the Republicans tried to push redistricting toward a vote in the GOP-controlled state House. But 51 Democrats in that chamber fled across the state line to Oklahoma to block a quorum, killing the bill.
On Monday, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst began the new session by ordering the 11 who left back to the chamber. "I'm asking our Senate Democrats to come back and to work with us," Dewhurst said. "I would say that I'm very, very disappointed."
It takes two-thirds of the Senate's 31 members -- 21 -- to form a quorum.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company |
