HOUSTON - For the second time, in a matter of just six weeks, democrats elected to the Texas House have abandoned their seats in the legislature to prevent the passage of an election reform measure they view as "suppressive".
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TX House Dems leave state over voting bill
The WYP panel discusses the departure of Texas House Democrats and the election integrity bill.
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This time the quorum busting tactic involved buses, jets, and a mass elopement beyond our state's border to the nation's capital - where the democrats vow they will remain until the clock runs out on the special session.
Barring long-shot action by congress, the Dems collectively concede the strategy amounts to a "stopgap", a temporary derailment - meant to draw national attention to their cause.
Meantime, fuming Republicans have accused the defecting democrats of squandering taxpayer resources and worse.. Risking the lives and livelihoods of the very Texans they were sworn to represent... By causing beneficial bills like felony bond reform and teacher retiree benefits to suffocate.
The fact is Democrats want Harris county pandemic accommodations like "drive-thru voting" and 24-hour polling places - to become permanent and "statewide" - anything less, they have labeled "suppression".
Rice political analyst Mark Jones, who tells us polling shows the vast majority of Texans are more interested in the economy, in their kid's education, in their health coverage and the erosion of public safety during the ongoing crime wave, than they are about this ugly voting rights squabble in Austin.
Panel - be honest, aside from hard-core activists on both sides - who’s really "locked-in" on this issue?
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