Texas House Speaker Tells Democrats Who Fled the State To Forfeit Their Pay

Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan told his Democrat colleagues who are engaging in a political stunt in Washington to return their $221 daily stipend to the State Treasury.

“While these Texas Democrats collect taxpayer money as they ride on private jets to meet with the Washington elite, those who remain in the chamber await their return to begin work on providing our retired teachers a 13th check, protecting our foster kids, and providing taxpayer relief,” Phelan said in a Wednesday statement shared on Twitter.

“Those who are intentionally denying quorum should return their per diem to the State Treasury immediately upon receipt.”

Several Democratic state legislators took chartered flights Monday to the nation’s capital in an attempt to stall voting on an election integrity bill by preventing the Texas House from achieving quorum.

Quorum is the minimum number of representatives needed to be present in the House for any decisions taken there to be valid.

The legislation the Democrats are protesting would, among other things, make it a crime for people who do not request ballots to receive them in the mail, require people who request mail-in ballots to show identification, curtail drive-thru voting and empower partisan poll watchers. It would ban 24-hour voting but add an extra hour of required early voting hours.

The Democrats claim the bill’s provisions would make it difficult for young people, racial minorities and disabled people to vote.