Posted on 08/15/2003 3:03:30 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Runaway Democrats shun deadline, defy fines11:11 PM CDT on Thursday, August 14, 2003
Eleven Senate Democrats defied a GOP deadline for returning to the Capitol on Thursday, and now – according to the Republicans – they owe the Senate $11,000 in fines.
The Democrats, holed up in a hotel in Albuquerque, N.M., said the fines are absurd, and they won't pay them.
Republicans in Austin, meanwhile, searched for ways to enforce the financial penalties against their colleagues.
The standoff between the two sides over congressional redistricting marked its 18th day on Thursday.
Gov. Rick Perry told reporters Thursday that he was shocked that the Democrats are flat-out refusing to pay any fines.
"I expect to hear someone stopped on Interstate 35 and given a ticket say, "Well the senators don't have to pay fines, why should I?' " said Mr. Perry, who has already called two special sessions of the Legislature on redistricting and stands ready to call a third when the current one ends.
"It's important that those senators come back and do what their obligation is – debate, talk about the issues and vote," he said, while voicing support for the ability of the Senate to compel absent members to return.
Under a resolution adopted by the GOP majority this week, the fines double Friday and Saturday before topping out Sunday at $5,000 per day per senator and $5,000 per day thereafter until the end of the current special session on Aug. 26. Each Democrat could be assessed a total of $57,000.
At their Albuquerque hotel, a new hand-painted sign was placed on the wall in the Democrats' meeting room noting that the clock started Thursday on the $1,000-a-day fines imposed on them by their Senate colleagues.
"Republican Poll Tax," it read. "Day 1 $1,000." The Democrats, most of whom are minorities, have likened the fines to a poll tax, once used in the South to discourage minority voting.
Noting the amount, Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso observed: "By Saturday, we will be fined our annual pay." The lawmakers, who make $600 a month, say they may challenge the fines in court.
The Democrats also said they were not concerned by reports that GOP lawmakers might try to outmaneuver them by extending the candidate filing deadline for the 2004 elections.
Part of the Democratic strategy is to boycott the Senate long enough that there won't be time for the U.S. Justice Department to conduct its mandatory review of new boundaries for congressional districts.
On Thursday, as the 4 p.m. deadline arrived for the Democrats to appear, the Senate chamber was deserted except for a group of tourists, a television crew and a handful of Senate doorkeepers stationed at the entrances to the chamber.
Republican senators, who are scheduled to reconvene Friday morning, conferred during the day about their next steps in the impasse, which started July 28 when the Democrats fled to New Mexico to block a Senate quorum and bottle up the GOP redistricting plans.
Among the sanctions that could be imposed within days are elimination of a variety of office allowances, including cellphones, travel, supplies, subscriptions and staff parking. Additionally, under consideration are reduction of the Democrats' office budgets and denial of access to the Senate floor while the chamber is in session. Each senator receives an average of $40,000 per month to operate his or her Capitol and district offices, including about $35,000 for salaries.
"We just hope the Democratic senators come back to work soon," said David Beckwith, a spokesman for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the Senate's presiding officer.
The Democrats got some support Thursday from other states' Democratic senators who said they were trampled earlier by their Republican colleagues.
"They threw the Colorado Legislature under a bus," said Sen. Ken Gordon of Denver, adding that the GOP-controlled Senate "bent" the rules to push through a redistricting bill in the last three days of the session earlier this year.
Like Texas, Colorado's congressional district lines had been drawn by a court. The new map approved by the Republican majority solidified their hold on a seat the Democrats said they could win.
"What Karl Rove did was terrible for Colorado. It's terrible for Texas," Democratic Sen. Bob Hagedorn of Aurora said of President Bush's chief political adviser, who the Coloradans say orchestrated the redistricting.
In Texas, Republicans are seeking to gain a sizable majority of the state's congressional delegation, now split at 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans. GOP leaders say the current map fails to reflect the state's shift toward Republicans, who hold every statewide elected office.
The redistricting battle spilled over into a historically nonpartisan transportation summit held Thursday in Irving.
U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, a Democrat, called the redistricting effort a "political jihad" by House Majority Leader Rep Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, against the Democratic Party.
Redistricting, Mr. Frost said, could harm the seniority of the state's delegation, leaving it with freshman representatives who "barely know where the bathrooms are" in Washington.
Staff writers Wayne Slater in Austin and Tony Hartzel in Dallas contributed to this report. Staff writers Terrence Stutz reported from Austin and George Kuempel reported from Albuquerque, N.M.
E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com and gkuempel@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/081503dntexredist.c425f.html
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