On Sunday night, with just hours left for the Texas House to give its final approval to legislation, Democrats left the chamber and busted the quorum.
By doing so, they were able to kill multiple bills in the process, including a high-profile omnibus election integrity bill and a bail reform bill.
Both bills were deemed priorities of Gov. Greg Abbott in February.
In order for the House to conduct business, a quorum of two-thirds of the chamber’s members (100 out of 150) are required to be present.
Despite being an emergency priority item that lawmakers have been allowed to address since February 1, Senate Bill 7—election integrity legislation that has been the target of Democrats nationwide—was scheduled to finally be passed on Sunday afternoon, just hours away from the midnight deadline.
As debate began, Democrat members started to leave the chamber, taking their voting keys with them.
When a vote was taken on whether to excuse one of the members, the tally revealed that only 86 members were present in the chamber.
The House then adjourned until 10 a.m. on Monday, without objection.
Abbott quickly took to Twitter to say election integrity, as well as bail reform, would be among the items added to a special session call.
Election Integrity & Bail Reform were emergency items for this legislative session.
They STILL must pass.
They will be added to the special session agenda.
Legislators will be expected to have worked out the details when they arrive at the Capitol for the special session.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 31, 2021
Although his statement lacks specifics, it appears Abbott is talking about a special session already planned for October due to redistricting, rather than a June special session called for by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in recent days.
