Posted on 08/06/2003 1:19:07 PM PDT by hocndoc
This morning the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported this in their article, "Dewhurst: Senators face "legal options": http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/legislature/6469676.htm
While Republicans in Austin were accusing the absent Democrats of shirking their duty, one senator in Albuquerque pointed out that the GOP used a similar tactic a decade ago to kill a measure on judicial redistricting.
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, recalled that in 1993, Senate Democrats were pushing a resolution to have state judges elected from Texas House districts rather than running in countywide elections. At the time, the House had a solid Democratic majority while Republicans were winning countywide elections in many urban areas.
When the resolution came up for a vote in the Senate, most of the Republicans had left the floor, which left the body short of the 21 members it needed for a quorum.
"They didn't leave the state; they just left the Senate," Ellis recalled. "But they did succeed in shutting the place down, even if it was just for a day. I remember somebody asking me if it was like the Killer Bees (the nickname for the Senate Democrats who fled for four days in 1979), and I said it was more like the Killer WASPs." ****************************************************
While the Laredo Morning Times had this:
Senate Republicans were behind 1993 quorum bust
BY APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN - What goes around comes around.
At least, that seems be the case for Texas Republicans who - despite jabs that Democrats holed up in a New Mexico hotel are neglecting their constitutional duty as elected officials - were the ones 10 years ago walking out of the Texas Senate to avoid a vote on a racially tinged judicial redistricting resolution.
"They clearly have a double standard," said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, who sponsored the resolution. Ellis is one 11 Senate Democrats who left the state to block a vote on congressional redistricting.
In 1993, Democrats were the powerhouse in Texas politics and they were set on adopting a resolution as part of a settlement that would have ended at-large elections for state judges in a handful of Texas counties. The proposal would have required 140 judges to run for election in sub-districts within affected counties. Republicans favored a system in which the governor appoints judges, who are then confirmed by the Senate.
But, the GOP was the minority back then, with only 13 in the 31-member body. So, as the Senate prepared to convene and vote on the proposal one spring day in 1993, several Republicans went into a closed-door meeting to discuss their options.
On the chamber floor, then-Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock announced that the Senate could not convene because no quorum was present. Only two of the 13 Republican senators were on the floor. The sound of buzzing emerged from the chamber, in a reference to the 1979 "Killer Bees" rebellion.
The 1993 Republican walkout only lasted a day. Eventually, the settlement was rejected by an appellate court on a technical issue. To date, no such legislation has passed.
Then-Sen. David Sibley, one of the Republicans who broke quorum, wouldn't discuss the circumstances of the 1993 walkout.
"Seems like we did for one day, I guess," said Sibley, who now works as a lobbyist in Austin. "I don't really remember that well."
Asked if the current quorum break was a legitimate option within the rules of the lawmaking process, Sibley responded, "I've got nothing to say about that. I'm sorry, I'm just not going to go there."
Sibley was not the only one connected to the 1993 walkout who seems to have forgotten the episode.
A handful of former legislators and officials called by The Associated Press either didn't remember it, or didn't want to talk "on the record."
Meanwhile, the Republican Party of Texas last week sent the Albuquerque Democrats a care package of diapers, pacifiers and baby rattles.
Party Chairwoman Susan Weddington said she hoped the items "make the Democrats a little more comfortable while they are AWOL from their elected duties. The Democrats may be enjoying their out-of-state vacation now, but when they get back to Texas the people are going to send these rebellious senators straight to their rooms."
The Senate walkout is the second this year by Democrats in the Legislature. In May, more than 50 House Democrats left for four days to kill a redistricting bill in the regular session.
Yes, because they were not available for the quorum call. It's different from the Dems' situation because they clearly did make themselves available for quorum call the next day.
What's surprising from back in 1993 is that the body could have issued a "call of the House" and had sergeants-at-arms physically force the Senators who were off the floor back onto the floor. So the Dems really couldn't complain about the GOP since all they had to do was issue a "call of the House" and the GOP guys would have had to return (either voluntarily or by force).
That's why the Dems had to flee the state of Texas--not just to avoid quorum, but to avoid being tracked down by state of Texas law enforcement and forced to return for a quorum call.
So while there was an avoidance of a quorum call in 1993, the Dems did not seek a call of the House and thus did not follow through with their legal options. It's like a Governor or a President letting a bill become law without his signature (by not signing it for 14 days while the legislature/Congress is in session), then complaining about the law that was passed.
That's real cute. I love these jesters. It's just one big happy 'Two-Party Cartel". The same for California. When the pubbies broke down & signed our hardworking dollars away these a$$es were out smoking their cigars with both factions of this "Two-Party Cartel". Then the next morning they sign the deal. And you all will go out & vote these turds back in office. I believe it was 5 pubbies who went with the commies. Just remember this . You won't see any of these so-called judges being confirmed at the national level because these pubbies don't really give a darn about any issue - only the ones that keep them in the upper level of their fiefdom. Send them ALL packing at the next election or get the same crapola government that you have had for decades.
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