Constitutional Amendment Would Thwart Out Of State Quorum Breaks By Legislators

A bill by State Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) proposes a constitutional amendment which would thwart quorum-breaking attempts by legislators who travel out of state–such as those used during the redistricting controversy of 2003 when Texas House Democrats went to Ardmore, Oklahoma and Senate Democrats spent more than a month in New Mexico.

Under the proposed constitutional amendment, HJR 134, the quorum requirement for the houses of the Legislature would be changed to consist only of two-thirds of the members of that House excluding those members whom the presiding officer has deemed to be absent from the state.

There are several problems with this amendment, including the ability for the presiding officer to deem members who are actually in Texas as being “out of state” simply to obtain a quorum to pass controversial legislation.

I would expect that, if passed, this legislation may also face some federal constitutional challenges because it could, in theory, allow only a handful of legislators to pass laws which apply to all Texans, thust denying representation to millions of Texans.