Like a character in some bad horror movie, the Texas redistricting story refuses to die. Yesterday things kicked into high gear all over again.
The history on this takes too long to reiterate; there are just so many layers to the story. In essence, after some bizarre turn of events in May, Texas Republicans began an unjustified redistricting process crafted by Tom DeLay to radically shift more seats to the GOP in Congress.
Since I last wrote about this on July 1, the Texas House passed DeLay’s ridiculous scheme. The plan went to the Texas Senate, where Republicans enjoy a strong majority, but not a lead big enough to prevent Democrats from blocking the effort.
The Senate vote was perilously close. The chamber has 31 members — 19 Republicans and 12 Dems. The State Senate has its own filibuster-like rule, in which 11 members can block consideration of a bill, but only 10 Dems were willing to block the redistricting scheme. At the last minute, one brave Republican, Bill Ratliff, said he was voting with the Dems because the plan would hurt rural areas in Texas, such as the one he represented.
This, apparently, meant the end of the effort. With 11 votes in opposition, the Texas Senate couldn’t pass the redistricting plan by the deadline set by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) for the special legislative session. It was a hard-fought victory, but good triumphed over evil.
Texas’ Lieutenant Governor, David Dewhurst (R), who presides over the Texas Senate, announced over the weekend that the plan was finished, saying, “In essence, redistricting in this session is dead.”
So it’s over, right? I’m afraid not.
You see, Perry and Dewhurst also announced that they’ll be calling the Legislature back to work — again — for yet another special session devoted exclusively to passing DeLay’s redistricting plan.
Why would they do this, knowing that they don’t have the votes in the State Senate? Because they’ve also decided that they’re changing the rules to suit their purposes.
The procedural rule that allows 11 state senators to block a bill has been respected in Texas for as long as anyone can remember. Before this special session began earlier this month, someone asked Dewhurst if it would apply. As Josh Marshall noted yesterday, Dewhurst promised to abide by the rule.
But that promise apparently had a short expiration date.
It turns out that the Redistricting Session Part II will consider the same plan but without the pesky procedural rule that both parties have always respected in the past. Dewhurst said he’ll just ignore the rule this time so the GOP can pass DeLay’s plan without the requisite two-thirds majority.
This is utterly breathtaking. Redistricting itself is a militant approach that breaks the rules that have stood for nearly a century. Now, when the rules prevent the Republicans from ramming through their reckless scheme, they decide to simply abandon the rules. These people bear no resemblance to conservatives; conservatives have a certain respect for tradition and the tenets of government. Texas Republicans, rather, are proving themselves to be radicals.
Radical or not, Perry and Dewhurst allowed the first special session to end without passage of the plan and immediately announced a second special session. That’s when things got interesting again.
Dems in the State Senate had a justified fear that Perry and Dewhurst would institute a lockdown for this second special session so the Dems couldn’t leave town again to prevent the legislature from having a quorum. With this fear in mind, they really only had one choice.
They went to New Mexico.
No, I’m not kidding. The State Senate requires 21 members to be present to have a quorum to take up business. Yesterday, 11 of the 12 Dems in the chamber headed for Albuquerque. 31 members – 11 members = 20 members, one shy of the minimum.
When 51 House Dems went to Ardmore, Okla., to prevent a quorum two months ago, they had to leave for four days. Perry’s special sessions last a month. How long are these 11 brave state senators prepared to be in Albuquerque? One of them, Sen. Judith Zaffrini, told reporters, “Thirty days. More if it’s necessary.”
The 11 Dems announced that if Perry and Dewhurst agreed to restore the State Senate’s two-thirds rule, they’d be on the “first flight back.” Of course, the Republicans aren’t willing to make that promise, because if they respected the rule, they’d probably lose.
This has to be the craziest story I’ve ever heard. As Josh Marshall noted, Texas’ national ad campaign is quite poignant: Texas is “like a whole other country.”
Stay tuned…