Deborah Cannon AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Texas Department of Public Safety Officer Hoyt Agee guards the Senate chamber. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst barred members from leaving the chamber when all but one Democrat failed to show up for the second special session.
House passes redistricting map
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
After spending Tuesday morning trying to round up a quorum, the Texas House got down to business and passed a congressional redistricting map.
The chamber didn't have a quorum when it met this morning at 10 a.m. Only 96 of the 150 members showed up — four short of the number necessary to conduct business.
Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, ordered the doors locked and placed a call, or order to return, on those who are missing — mostly Democrats.
But shortly before 1 p.m., enough members had returned to allow business to resume. The House then voted to suspend its normal rules requiring separate committee meetings for new bills and passed, by a 75-26 vote, the same map it had approved earlier this month during the previous special session.
The suspension of the rules angered some Democrats .
"The power grab that has been going on has extended to the House floor," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.
Democrats have spent the last few months fighting congressional redistricting. The state's Republican leadership has said redistricting is necessary because the Texas congressional delegation does not reflect the party's hold on the state.
Several other bills, many dealing with government reorganization, also were voted to the floor by four-fifths of the House members present. The chamber appeared like to adjourn Tuesday afternoon and to await the return of the senators who have fled to New Mexico.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans urged their Democratic colleagues to come back to Texas and work with them on a congressional redistricting plan.
"No Texas problem has ever been solved in New Mexico," said Sen. Todd Staples of Palestine, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus.
Eleven Democratic senators fled to Albuquerque, N.M., Monday to break a Senate quorum and block consideration of redistricting, the subject of a second special session called by Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
At a news conference in New Mexico Tuesday, the Democrats outlined their case for leaving.
"We believe that Texans deserve fair, honest government that works for us, not against us," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus. "There's nothing fair about a partisan redistricting effort that turns a deaf ear to the overwhelming majority of Texans and turns it back on the minority opportunity."
She had said earlier that more than 1.4 million minorities in Texas would lose effective congressional representation if redistricting occurs as Republicans wish.
Republican senators denied assertions from Democrats that GOP-backed redistricting maps proposed so far would violate the voting rights of minorities across Texas. Staples, the chief architect of the Senate map, said the proposals actually improve minority voting strength.
The Democrats' absence Monday prompted Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to adjourn the first special legislative session a day early, without a redistricting bill approved. The House adjourned shortly after that, but Perry immediately called lawmakers back for another session on redistricting. The second session could last up to 30 days.
The Senate met briefly Tuesday morning but broke after a few minutes. Dewhurst said the chamber would reconvene Wednesday morning.
