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Wasn't there a similar case to TX when Democratic legislators were hiding in a different state?
I don't remember the details, or how it ended.
12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
It wasn't the first time!
https://www.texastribune.org/2010/09/01/bill-hobby-on-the-dreaded-two-thirds-rule/
From an interview with former TX Lt. Governor, Bill Hobby:
We were in the middle of a contentious session in 1979. There was a well-organized and determined minority of Democratic senators who were fighting what they considered to be anti-consumer legislation. They were using every tactic in the book to block the legislation they opposed. One tactic was the filibuster. They had developed a tag-team variation on filibustering that could keep the talking going for days. I started calling them the “Killer Bees,” because no one knew when they would strike next.
(snip)
The whole thing was a fiasco. In protest, twelve “Killer Bee” senators flew the Capitol to break a quorum. The “Worker Bees,” who stayed behind, spent each session haranguing the absentees, since we didn’t have the quorum necessary to transact any business. And we were in the very last weeks of the session with lots of legislation in the pipeline.
(snip)
In 2003, Tom DeLay, who was then majority leader of the U.S. House and a congressman from Sugar Land, decided that the Legislature should again redistrict Texas seats in the U.S. House. No matter that this had just occurred, as ordered by law, in 2001. In 2002, voters had elected sizeable Republican majorities on both sides of the rotunda, and DeLay saw an opportunity to freeze Democrats out for years to come.
The minority Democrats in the state House saw no way to defeat DeLay’s redistricting plan on the floor. So fifty-two Democratic representatives took a chapter from the Killer Bees and flew away — this time to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where the Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction. The absence of more than one-third of the House broke a quorum, and business stalled. This earned the absent Democrats the nickname “Killer D’s.” The regular session ended in stalemate, but Gov. Rick Perry called legislators back in a summer special session to redistrict. This time, the Senate Democrats took flight for Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had to come back, however, and the redistricting bill passed into law...
(snip)
The whole thing was a fiasco. In protest, twelve “Killer Bee” senators flew the Capitol to break a quorum. The “Worker Bees,” who stayed behind, spent each session haranguing the absentees, since we didn’t have the quorum necessary to transact any business. And we were in the very last weeks of the session with lots of legislation in the pipeline.
(snip)
In 2003, Tom DeLay, who was then majority leader of the U.S. House and a congressman from Sugar Land, decided that the Legislature should again redistrict Texas seats in the U.S. House. No matter that this had just occurred, as ordered by law, in 2001. In 2002, voters had elected sizeable Republican majorities on both sides of the rotunda, and DeLay saw an opportunity to freeze Democrats out for years to come.
The minority Democrats in the state House saw no way to defeat DeLay’s redistricting plan on the floor. So fifty-two Democratic representatives took a chapter from the Killer Bees and flew away — this time to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where the Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction. The absence of more than one-third of the House broke a quorum, and business stalled. This earned the absent Democrats the nickname “Killer D’s.” The regular session ended in stalemate, but Gov. Rick Perry called legislators back in a summer special session to redistrict. This time, the Senate Democrats took flight for Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had to come back, however, and the redistricting bill passed into law...
AND: In 2011, Wisconsin Democrats fled to Illinois in order to prevent Scott Walker and WI repubs from destroying the collective bargaining rights of state workers. This led to one of the greatest Facebook posts ever:
