Texas House to Hear Public Testimony on Voting Bill After Quorum Restored – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
A committee will hear a public testimony on the voting bill on Monday after quorum was restored in the Texas House of Representatives on Thursday, allowing discussion of the GOP-backed bill to resume.
Senate Bill 1 and others were hampered after dozens of Texas Democrats stepped out in July to stop the bill from being passed.
The House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies is due to hear testimony from 8 a.m. on Monday morning on the Voting Act and House Act 20, which relates to censorship on social media platforms and emails.
Despite the Democratic strike, the Senate barely held enough members to do business. The chamber passed the voting bill last week after Senator Carol Alvarado’s 15-hour filibuster stalled the process.
The House of Representatives lacked the necessary two-thirds of its 150 members to have a quorum, but that ended Thursday after three House Democrats broke the 38-day lockdown.
In a statement Thursday, the three lawmakers – Armando Walle, Ana Hernandez and Garnet Coleman – defended their return by saying they pushed Congress on voting legislation while highlighting the growing urgency of the rising COVID-19 case numbers in Texas .
Nearly three dozen Democrats – more than half of the group that fled to Washington, DC – signed a statement that did not state whether they would return now, but targeted the few who already did.
“We are disappointed that some Democrats have chosen to take the floor. We feel betrayed and heartbroken, but our resolve is strong and this fight is not over yet,” the statement said.
The bill must reach Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s desk by September 5. If this is not the case, the legislators could face another special session.
Abbott said he will continue to convene 30-day special sessions “to reform our broken bail system, uphold the integrity of the elections, and pass other key items that Texans demand and deserve.”
Texas Republicans have sought to pass measures banning 24-hour polling stations, banning drive-through voting, and giving partisan election observers more access. While the House of Representatives can make changes, Republicans have given no indication that they will remove some of the most controversial provisions from the bill.
“I think this bill is going to go back and forth a bit between us and the Senate,” said Rep. Jim Murphy, chairman of the Republican House of Representatives.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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