Texas Supreme Court: Absent lawmakers may be arrested, Democrats have until Wednesday to respond

(The Center Square) – The Texas Supreme Court handed Gov. Greg Abbott two victories in recent court cases involving House Democrats.

In the first ruling, the highest court granted Abbott a stay in response to a request he filed with the court after a state district judge on Sunday prohibited him and House Speaker Dade Phelan from arresting truant House Democrats who fled the state during a special session in July.

Now that the second special legislative session has begun and many House Democrats remain in Washington, D.C., abroad or in Texas but not in Austin, those in Texas could be arrested after 80 members of the House voted again on Monday in favor of a procedure known as “Call of the House” to arrest truant members.

On Sunday, Travis County District Judge Brad Urrutia had barred Abbott and Phelan from having House Democrats arrested who fled the state to break quorum and disrupt legislative business.

By Tuesday, that decision was reversed and the Texas Supreme Court gave Texas Democrats until 4 p.m. Wednesday to respond. House Democrats who have already returned to Texas who have not received permission from the speaker to be absent from the special session could be arrested and brought back to Austin under the Call of the House. The procedure, which is in the House rules approved by both Democrats and Republicans in January, establishes guidelines to arrest and bring truant legislators to Austin.

The court on Monday also handed Abbott a win, rejecting a lawsuit brought by House Democrats over the governor stripping all legislators of their salaries in response to Democrats absconding from their legislative duties. Abbott had executed a line-item veto of Title X funding, which covers the funding of the salaries of lawmakers, their staff and other legislative employees. Last week, Abbott restored the funding in an effort to ensure that all legislative staff would not be punished for Democrats’ refusal to return to Austin.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that the House Democrats who sued could have attempted to overrule the veto if they had not fled the state.

“While the interference by one branch of government with the effectual function of another raises concerns of separation of powers, the issue presented here is primarily one of differences among legislators,” the court ruled. “Although the Governor certainly seeks to advance legislation he favors, the majority of the members of the Legislature support the same legislation. Relator House members oppose that legislation and have broken quorum to further their opposition.

“It appears from the record of the special session that they could have restored Article X funding for the Legislature had they been present to vote to do so. … The Legislature was free to use the special session to reinstate Article X funding.”

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