Republicans yank parking from missing Democrats

Austin American-Statesman ^ | August 15, 2003 | Laylan Copelin

[Dog Gone]

Senate votes on new penalties in addition to monetary fines

A majority of the Senate's Republican members voted today to take away privileges, such as Capitol parking and meeting space, from their boycotting Democratic colleagues if the 11 Democrats in New Mexico don't return and pay fines assessed against them for leaving the state.

Senate Republicans approved the fines earlier this week, and the boycotting Democrats immediately said they will never pay them.

If the Democrats continue their boycott to Aug. 26, the end of the second special session, each would owe $57,000. Senate Republicans said the fines must be paid from personal funds. The additional penalties will begin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday if the fines aren't paid by then.

"We don't want to penalize our colleagues," said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound. "We want them to come back."

Along with cutting off Capitol parking and meeting space, the Senate Republicans said if the fines are not paid, the absent Democrats' staff would lose parking and access to the Senate floor. The Republicans also voted to eliminate all purchasing, travel, subscriptions, printing and cell phones for the absent Democrats and to limit their postage for constituent communication to $200 a month.

Not all of the penalties were unanimously agreed upon. Sens. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, and Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, voted against barring the staff from parking on Capitol grounds, saying that would affect constituent services. Armbrister also voted against the overall set of penalties. He's the only Senate Democrat who did not leave the state.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, urged that the staff parking be eliminated because he was concerned that the absent senators would take over that parking when they return.

Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, did not attend the session.

After the senators agreed to assess the additional penalties, several gave speeches about why they did it.

Wentworth said the issue is no longer about redistricting, but about whether the Senate majority can govern.

He said he worried that in the future, 11 senators could stop important business just by fleeing the state. He said the demands from the 11 Senate Democrats in New Mexico are unacceptable.

The Democrats left the state July 28 to block the Senate from considering a plan to redraw boundaries for Texas' 32 congressional districts. It takes 21 of the 31 members to conduct business in the Senate.

Democrats hold a 17-15 majority in the Texas congressional delegation, and Republicans want to overcome that. They say current districts were based on maps drawn to benefit Democrats. About six of the current districts have a majority of Republican voters but re-elected long-time incumbent Democrats in the 2002 elections.

Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott has said the current boundaries are legal and can stay until after the 2010 Census.

[bert]

....Declare them legally dead & replace them.....

Excellent suggestion. Proof of life requires appearance. Dead can be replaced by the Governor etc ad infinitum. Attach all bank accounts tilll will is produced etc etc.

Lawyer them to death. Lawyer their wives and children to death. In short make life so miserable for families they will never forget the abominations of their relative.

[Between the Lines]

I looked up Texas and New Mexico residency laws and nothing they are doing would change their current status.

[Dog Gone]

Okay, then I have nerve. Your post #43 is compelling evidence to me, at least, that you were mistakenly buying this paper's spin.

Greg Abbott was not going to invent law just to prevent Rat reporters from spinning.

He's a rock-solid Republican, and a damn good legal mind.

[buffyt]

Hee hee hee I LOVE my Rascally Republican Elected Officials! Go Texas Republicans, GO!!!! Show the Demobrats who is boss! I am sick to death of the Dimwitted Demobrat whiners!

[Cyber Liberty]

That being the case, then Perry's got a good man on the job.

Sorry I snapped at you....

[Budge]

Oh, suddenly I'm now rooting for Erika to be one hell of a storm.

Now wait -- Shila Jackass Lee has stated that hurricans are never named for blacks.

I say call the storm "E-bonics Bi_ch" in her honor.

[kegler4]

Personally, I'd prefer a system that's as close to neutral as possible. I believe a couple of states (maybe Iowa) have this. Right now I live in a city that's been divided into three districts for no reason other than to get more of one party elected. Some precincts have even been divided. I don't care who's doing the line drawing, this flat-out sucks. (In this case it's the Republicans getting their revenge for years of Democrat gerrymandering).

[Dog Gone]

No problem. You've proven your conservative credentials here for years, and I'm willing to vouch for them.

[Dog Gone]

That might be fine in theory, but get the Voting Rights Act repealed as part of the process. As long as redistricting is a political process, which that legislation requires, then I don't think we should be apologizing when things go our way.

[Cyber Liberty]

Thanks. Now, if I can work on the being so danged crabby, I'd be perfect....

[solo gringo]

IMO this can be handled through the courts and the courts should declare the seats abandoned by the named senate members.Then they could call for elections to fill the senate seats.All it takes is guts.

[hocndoc]

Yeah, they may walk out again, but to do that they'll have to walk in. And to walk in, they might have to use public transportation, hitch a ride with a friend who'll drop them off, or pay for parking like the rest of us. And so will their staff members.

[Dog Gone]

AP is now reporting that the penalties, scheduled to begin Tuesday, will begin immediately.

It seems as if the Republicans are getting impatient.

[hocndoc]

Or the AP is goofing up again.

[Dog Gone]

Austin-(AP) -- Texas today filed a motion in federal court in Laredo to dismiss a lawsuit that Democrats filed over the GOP congressional redistricting flap.

GOP Governor Rick Perry and others want the case to be referred to a federal appeals court.

Democrats allege Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst violated the Voting Rights Act by dropping a rule that requires two-thirds of the Senate to agree to debate a bill.

That's partly why 11 Texas Senate Democrats have been in New Mexico since July 28 -- to block a quorum.

Meanwhile, new penalties took effect today for those 11 Democrats.

Texas Senate Republicans originally said the sanctions wouldn't start until Tuesday, but late today that was updated to immediately.

The Republicans decided to yank the rebels' parking spaces and cell phones, plus other privileges. The Democrats are already facing minimum fines of $1,000 per day.

But the Democrats today responded by saying all of the sanctions aren't legal because the Texas Senate lacks a quorum.

[hocndoc]

Here's a good description of what I saw and heard on the internet broadcast of the session (which lasted less than one hour). The article is from a paid service called Gallery Watch http://texas.gallerywatch.com/index.gw

I wonder whether Ratliff will be fined in the same way that the Democrats are.

<*> GOP senators approve more sanctions on Dems
By: J .Lyn Carl (Friday, Aug 15, 2003)

AUSTIN (8/15/03) - The latest salvo in the legislative "food fight" over congressional redistricting includes additional sanctions approved today by Republican members of the Senate over their Democratic colleagues in New Mexico. The Democrats, who are in their third week of being holed up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to bust a Senate quorum and prevent the redistricting issue from coming before the Senate, already are facing fines levied earlier this week by the GOP senators. Today's additional sanctions approved on a motion on the Senate floor include the following: suspending all purchasing privileges; suspending all mail privileges except $200 per month for responding to constituent needs; suspending all travel; allowing no reservations for Senate conference, press conference or meeting rooms; allowing no parking for members or staff on the capitol grounds; allowing no subscriptions; allowing no printing including newsletters; allowing no cell phones; and allowing no floor passes for the missing members' staff. The suspension of privileges relative to the members' offices also relate to their respective committee offices. These sanctions are to be imposed until the members pay fines being levied against them as long as they are absent. Earlier this week, the GOP senators approved a motion to levy a $1,000 per day fine, doubling daily but not to exceed $5,000 per day on the missing Democrats. Levying of those fines began at 4 p.m. Thursday. The missing Democrats said they would not pay the fines. Noticeably absent from the Senate floor proceedings Monday as well as today was Sen. Bill Ratliff (R-Mount Pleasant). Ratliff stormed from the Monday meeting with his fellow Republicans and Democrat Ken Armbrister and did not participate in the floor vote. Today he released a one-sentence statement, "I will not be a party to any of this." Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said today there were 16 members of the Senate on the floor voting on the motion, with three other members sending letters of support. Ratliff was not among them. Senate President Pro Tempore Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) offered the motion saying, "We don't want to penalize our colleagues," she said. "Their loss of privileges is what we felt were defined privileges that could be removed without impacting the ability to do their duties as senators." "These actions are to encourage the absent members to return home," said Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine). "In so doing, it's enforcing the previous action we've taken." Staples said the Republican members want to be respectful of their Democratic colleagues, and to allow them to continue to perform services for their constituents. "Our whole intent is to encourage their return." Staples called the fines and the new sanctions approved today a "reasonable, measured response to the situation they have placed us in" but added, "it is our duty to compel them to return." "This is sad," said Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) of the sanctions approved by the Republican senators. "There is not a single person here who wants to do this and we should not have to do it." Ogden said the missing Democrats are "setting a terrible example in failing to voluntarily comply with the oath they took to uphold the constitution" and to uphold the rules of the Senate. "That is wrong." "We just want our colleagues to come back," said Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville). "It's a bad example to our children to see our state senators run away from an issue and not stay and fight." Deuell denied that Congressman Tom DeLay is running the redistricting show in Texas. He again reiterated the GOP statement that the U.S. Congress should better reflect the voting trends of Texas. Deuell also said allegations by some of the absent Democrats that race is involved in the redistricting efforts and in the sanctions being imposed is incorrect. Some of the Democrats have described the fines as a "poll tax," which Deuell called "ridiculous." Other Democrats, he said, said they are being fined for representing their districts. "They are not being fined for representing their districts," he said. "They are being fined for not representing their districts." Sen. Craig Estes (R -Wichita Falls) said he and his fellow GOP senators have no malice toward their Democratic colleagues. "We have charity," he said, "but we do have firmness." He said the Senate should continue its work on the many important matters before it. "With God's help we will heal the wounds of this chamber and go on to brighter days." "This issue is not longer really about redistricting," said Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio). He said the issue now is "about the way we run representative democracy." "Is a minority going to control the way we do business around here?" he asked. "That's the bottom line." Wentworth said the majority of elected representatives should set policy of the state and the ongoing battle over redistricting says to future legislators that if a group of legislators see they are about to lose an issue of importance to them, "They can just leave the state." Wentworth said the Democrats in Albuquerque have said if the governor will drop redistricting from the call of the second special session, they will come home. "They say if you say from Austin that you all lose, even though you're the majority...if you'll just wave the white flag of surrender, we'll come home. We're not going to do that. We're not going to surrender." Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), who chairs the Joint Committee on Public School Finance, said she fears what impact the impasse over redistricting and the hard feelings that have resulted between Democrats and Republicans will affect future deliberations on public school finance. "My grave concern is the future," she said. "I am very fearful that what has happened to this body over the redistricting issue will spill over into public school finance decisions. "I'm not concerned about Republicans and Democrats on the issue of public school finance. Our governance procedures have been destroyed...they have been tainted." She said her fears are that "this will not become an issue of just the past, but of the future." "We need our members to come back because of other important issues," said Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan). He said the Republican senators have been struggling with how to compel the attendance of the absent senators. "We should not have to do this," he said.



© Copyright GalleryWatch.com, Inc. (1999-2003).

[Dog Gone]

Ouch. It hurt my eyes to read that, but it contained some interesting quotes.

I don't think Ratliffe has left Austin, so he's not going to be subject to these sanctions. He is proving himself to be a Democrat, though, and I hope the GOP takes revenge by financing a primary opponent.

[MeekOneGOP]

IMO this can be handled through the courts and the courts should declare the seats abandoned by the named senate members. Then they could call for elections to fill the senate seats. All it takes is guts.

They have effectively abandoned their responsibilities, haven't they ? I'm liking this idea ! ...

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the ping and post !!

[MeekOneGOP]

Interesting site. That 'My Gallery Watch' requires logging in to
see the articles. Is there a fee to subscribe or is it a freebie ?? ...