Texas House Speaker Burrows: New Penalties for Democrats Fleeing State to Break Quorum

Legal Actions Against Absent Members

• ⚖️ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Speaker Burrows have initiated actions to domesticate civil arrest warrants in Illinois, aiming to enforce them beyond Texas.
• 📧 Chairman Garren has requested assistance from the Illinois House Sergeant-at-Arms to return absent members.
• 🕵️ Department of Public Safety is actively tracking absent members to facilitate their return to the chamber.
• 🌐 Efforts to compel a quorum are ongoing, with the FBI's assistance reportedly enlisted, as their powers are not state-confined.

New Administrative Policies for Absent Members

• 💰 A new policy, enacted by Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Speaker Burrows, states that members absent to break quorum will no longer have their paychecks or per diems deposited electronically.
• ✋ While the constitution prohibits withholding pay, the method of issuance has changed; checks must now be picked up in person on Capitol grounds.
• 📊 Effective immediately, 30% of each quorum-breaking member's monthly operating budget will be reserved and unavailable for expenditure, per House rules.
• 📝 Absent members must also appear in person to approve requests for travel reimbursement, personal action requests (including staff salary changes), and approval for newsletters and house reproduction services.
• 🚫 Failure to appear in person will result in the cancellation of newsletters and encumbered funds.