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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: laura_bush who wrote (461108)	9/18/2003 3:17:31 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769667

Texas GOP Drops Fines Against Democrats By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 2:56 p.m. ET AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Senate dropped thousands of dollars in fines and restored parking and cell-phone privileges Thursday for Democrats who were punished for fleeing the state to protest a Republican-led redistricting plan. The Democrats instead will be placed on a probation of sorts until the start of the next regular legislative session in January 2005. They were told if they leave again to break a quorum, they would have to pay $57,000 apiece in fines. If any of the senators are absent without a sufficient excuse for more than 72 hours, the fines and sanctions also would be reinstated. The vote was 13-10 in favor of the plan. Not all senators were present, but the vote fell almost entirely along party lines. The Democrats each racked up the $57,000 in GOP-approved fines while they boycotted the Senate in Albuquerque, N.M., during a second special session on redistricting. The Republicans later approved a slew of penalties on the senators and their staffs if the fines were not been paid. Under those penalties, the Democrats and their staffs had also been denied Capitol parking, postage and cellular phone use, access of staffs to the Senate floor and reduced spending privileges. Those privileges were restored under the plan approved Thursday. Democratic senators have compared the fines to a poll tax and have refused to pay them. Senate Democrats spent 45 days in Albuquerque before returning to the Senate floor on Monday. Their out-of-state stay ended when one of their own, Sen. John Whitmire, gave up on the boycott and returned to Texas. That gave the Senate the 21-member quorum needed to conduct business. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------