Texas House Democratic PartyThe governor, who fled the state capitol this week to block the Republican-backed voting bill, said the governor has no right to arrest lawmakers who failed to attend the special session of the legislature.
“I have not committed a crime, so I will not be arrested. The most likely thing to happen is that I may be detained,” State Representative Jasmine Crockett told CNNof a new day Tuesday. “And it was not the governor who made this decision. It was the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
Governor Greg Abbott Criticizing Democrats for leaving the state on Monday before the expected vote in the House of Representatives, and threatening lawmakers “will be arrested” when they return from Washington, DC
But Crockett believes that whether lawmakers will face punishment for denying the state government does not depend on Abbott. Republicans The two-thirds quorum required to pass the bill.
“The Speaker of the House elected by the Democrats and Republicans-he must turn this issue into a problem,” she said.
The current speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is Republican Dade Phelan (Dade Phelan), who once said that like his fellow Democrats, “I can consider all options myself.”
However, during the legislative session that ended in May, Ferran did not use his executive power. At that time, the Democrats in the House of Representatives broke the quorum in the remaining minutes, causing Republicans to fail to pass the full election bill. Adjourn the meeting under circumstances.
“I told them [Democrats] Well, you know, I understand, there are rumors that there will be a quorum break tonight, and I have the ability to lock the door and arrest members of the House of Representatives. I don’t plan to do that,” Phelan said in June, after the two-day meeting.
In response, Abbott vowed to convene a special meeting that began last week to ensure that a series of Republican-backed bills are passed. The special meeting may last for several weeks, which will force the Democrats to stay in Texas before adjourning.
Brandon Bell/Getty
“The governor can hold a special meeting after the special meeting… but I am not worried about the threat of arrest,” Crockett said. “The most likely thing is that we may be detained, which is why we left the state. The governor of Texas has no jurisdiction outside the state, and [the Department of Public Safety].”
Crockett is also a criminal defense lawyer. He added: “I know the law, and the governor knows the law.”
Trey Martinez Fischer, Democrat of the Texas House of Representatives, said: “The governor’s threats and accusations will not frighten us all. We are strong and united. We hope to bring voting rights reform to this country.”
The lawmakers also disputed Abbott’s claim that the lawmakers flew out on two taxpayer-funded flights, saying they had other sources of financial assistance.
“[The chartered flights] It was not bought with taxpayer money. We have people who support us, such as Beto O’Rourke. Some of us are interested in seeing democracy actually prevail,” Crockett said. “We help, but it’s not taxpayer money. We will not do that. We can’t even access it. “
“We raised this money privately,” Martinez Fisher said. “The House Democratic Caucus raises funds privately—private expenses. In fact, for the hotel we stayed at tonight, I paid for the entire group from my campaign account, so this is not a government intermediary, as the governor knows what to do. These legislators use all the resources we have privately to express their opinions on this issue.”
He added that legislators chose to take charter flights instead of commercial flights to ensure that the quorum was successfully broken.
Since the Democrats oppose the voting bill – which is one of the country’s most extensive efforts to restrict mailing and early voting – they also plan to call on their federal counterparts to pass federal voting legislation in Washington.
Crockett says Texas lawmakers want to talk to Arizona Democratic senator Kirsten Cinema Regarding the end of the obstruction bill so that congressional Democrats can quickly pass the “Act for the People”-the film has publicly supported but lack SenateIt takes 60 votes to pass.
Weekly newspaper Contacted the Abbott office for comments, but did not receive a response before publishing.
