How much were Texas Democrats fined for breaking quorum?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than 50 Democratic representatives in the Texas House left the state for weeks in August, in an attempt to block a vote on redrawn maps of Texas’ U.S. congressional districts and raise national awareness of the maps.
Those Texas House members returned last week and were slapped with hefty fines for their two weeks of stalling the legislative chamber’s ability to reach quorum.
State Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, shared a letter from the Committee on House Administration to his office charging him $9,354.25 for the quorum break.
House rules fine members gone for a quorum break $500 a day, which amounts to a total of $7,000 for Jones’ 14 days absent.
Plus, the letter stated the quorum breakers would be responsible for covering the expenses of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s attempts to bring Democrats back to Austin. According to the letter, $124,943.25 was spent toward the effort.
Jones’ portion of that was calculated out to $2,354.25, the letter stated.
According to the Texas House Democrats, most members who broke quorum incurred a fine of the “same amount or very, very similar.”
As a whole, the group of House Democrats who broke quorum will have to pay more than $350,000 for the absentee fines, plus the $124,943.25 for DPS’s efforts to bring them home. The total fines add up to nearly half a million dollars.
Adam Schwager contributed to this report.
