What a way to spin - they say that they are away from their families during the session and cannot work their normal jobs. Their absences are starting to get costly.
Finances weigh on Texas Democrats as costs of their quorum break add up
As dozens of Texas state House Democrats near the one-week mark of their quorum break, fleeing the state indefinitely to prevent state GOP leaders from redrawing congressional lines, it's not just politics that loom over the strategy. It's money, too.
The Democrats face a $500 fine for each day they're "absent without leave," a rule put into place after Democratic legislators mounted a similar effort to deny the Legislature a quorum in 2021, plus a "pro rata share" of what the state House Sergeant at Arms spends in their efforts to compel them to return to the Capitol in Austin.
Those fines have already eclipsed the $600 monthly salary the lawmakers receive from their part-time elected posts. And given their meager salaries, and the fact that the Legislature only meets for regular session for six months every two years, virtually every state lawmaker has a day job they've left behind in Texas, too.
Those monetary factors, plus the realities of being far away from family and other obligations, further complicate the plan for Democrats who have fled their home state to deny Republicans the requisite number of lawmakers needed to move forward with business in the Legislature.
It’s all why state Democrats have been fundraising around their quorum break, why other Democrats have been lending a hand — and why Republicans have been targeting their funding.
"There’s people who are single moms, single dads, with their kids, and we just do what we can. None of this is fun," state Rep. Gene Wu, the leader of the state House Democratic Caucus, told NBC News.
"We’ve been away from our families for six months already, right?" Wu continued, a reference to the six month legislative session that started in January. "During the special session, I can’t work. Most people can’t work. They’re away from their families. ... All of us are making actual, real sacrifices to be here."
State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer said when it came to financial support, he believed most members felt comfortable, but if anyone didn’t, the rest of the members would have their backs.
“Because of the bond we have with this, if any member was in need of anything — there are a lot of camp counselors around, like I’m one of the camp counselors — we’re all going to help each other, and we’re not gonna leave anybody behind, and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
State Rep. Armando Walle, who represents a Houston-area district, was one of two Texas House members to come to Boston — not only to break quorum but to attend the National Conference of State Legislatures annual summit, where he felt he could spread the word.
He left Boston for Chicago on Wednesday alongside fellow state Rep. Ana Hernandez, where they plan to stay “as long as this special session lasts” — raising questions about how long he and the others can sustain lost wages and income.
But Walle, who owns a small civil law firm, said he has continued to see clients and attend hearings virtually, allowing him to continue making a living while not being physically present at his office and in the Harris County courts.
“I’m not independently wealthy,” Walle told NBC News on the sidelines of the state legislatures summit. “But I have clients that are right now accommodating. They understand the situation. Our judges, as well.”
Financing the quorum break
Texas Democrats haven't been clear about how much money they've raised for their efforts. Wu told NBC News that on the first day they announced their quorum break they raised about $20,000 in small-dollar donations.
After Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker helped strike a deal with Texas Democratic leaders to take refuge in Illinois during the quorum break, speculation grew that Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat, was financially underwriting the efforts. Pritzker said more than once during press conferences this week that was not the case.
"I made clear to them that we would do everything logistically and otherwise to try to support them. I have not written a check or supported them financially, though I am not reticent to do that," Pritzker said. "I have not done that but lots and lots of people around the country have.”
Former Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke built a potent fundraising machine during a run for Senate in 2018, and his political group, Powered by People, has been raising money to support the Texas Democrats. O'Rourke told CNN during a Wednesday interview the money was going to "make sure they have the resources for their lodging, their food, their flights" as well as their legal defense.
That disclosure prompted state Attorney General Ken Paxton to announce he was investigating O'Rourke's group over that funding, which he called "illegal bribes." (Paxton is running for Senate in 2026, and O’Rourke has not ruled out a Senate bid of his own.)
"Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto Bribe will be held accountable," Paxton said in a statement.
In a statement responding to that investigation, O'Rourke invoked the Texas state House's impeachment of the attorney general in 2023. Paxton was later acquitted in the state Senate.
"The guy impeached for bribery is going after the folks trying to stop the theft of five congressional seats," O'Rourke said. "Let's stop these thugs before they steal our country."
No matter how the fundraising efforts go, eventually, something has to give. Walle, the Texas lawmaker who traveled from Boston to Chicago this week to continue breaking quorum, acknowledged to NBC News that the group's decampment from Texas couldn’t go on forever.
But he also wouldn’t commit to an end date or a firm or specific end goal, saying only he wanted to continue “raising awareness” and would likely remain out of state through the current special session.
“Beyond that, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.
August 08, 2025, 06:24 AM
still_bill
Do they need to declare all the funds as income to the IRS?
Be funny if they would have to pay taxes on all that income.
August 08, 2025, 08:10 AM
braillediver
Since they've made their finances a public issue- I'd like to see the numbers= Income + Net Worth.
So he spent a few years working as a carpenter 80 miles from Asheville before moving to Missouri. OK…This message has been edited. Last edited by: parabellum,
------------------ Eddie
Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
August 08, 2025, 08:42 PM
nhtagmember
The Texas House has also decided that while they cannot NOT pay the critters while they're away, nothing says HOW they get paid. So ALL direct deposits have been cancelled, they have to pick up their checks in person at the Capitol, no expenses, no per diems....
this is getting good
as is usual with most democrats, they never fully assess the unintended consequences of their showboating, and if the Governor gets his way, ALL 13 seats will be declared vacated which puts them out of work, and a new election must be held.
I'll bet that most of the dems misinterpreted vacated with vacation
August 09, 2025, 10:01 AM
chellim1
The Great Gerrymandering War Of 2025 By Robin M. Itzler
Until President Trump came on the scene, the U.S. Congress basically consisted of Democrats and RINOs with only a few actual Republicans sprinkled throughout the GOP. Thanks to Trump morphing the party into America First Patriots, MAGA Republicans are pushing back at the insanity tossed at us by Democrat—for example, gerrymandering, which communist Democrats have made into an art form. Per Vice President J.D. Vance:
The gerrymander in California is outrageous. Of their 52 congressional districts, nine of them are Republican. That means 17 percent of their delegation is Republican when Republicans regularly win 40 percent of the vote in that state. How can this be possibly allowed?
Consider these blue states based on the 2024 presidential election:
Connecticut—President Trump received 41.9 percent of the popular vote. Connecticut has five House seats; zero are Republican. Delaware—President Trump received 41.8 percent of the popular vote. Delaware has one at-large House seat; it is not a Republican. Hawaii—President Trump received 37.1 percent of the popular vote. Hawaii has two House seats; zero are Republican. Maine—President Trump received 45.6 percent of the popular vote. Maine has two House seats; zero are Republican. Maryland—President Trump received 34.4 percent of the popular vote. Maryland has eight House seats, but only one is Republican. Massachusetts—President Trump received 36 percent of the popular vote. Massachusetts has nine House seats; zero are Republican. New Hampshire—President Trump received 47.9 percent of the popular vote. New Hampshire has two House seats; zero are Republican. New Mexico—President Trump received 45.9 percent of the popular vote. New Mexico has three House seats; zero are Republican. Oregon—President Trump received 41 percent of the popular vote. Oregon has six House seats; one is Republican. Rhode Island—President Trump received 41.8 percent of the popular vote. Rhode Island has two House seats; zero are Republican.
If blue states were represented in Congress based on how their citizens voted in presidential elections, there would be fewer Democrats and more Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is why communist Democrats are violently upset that Texas is planning a mid-decade redistricting update and other red states are considering the same. With many blue states already gerrymandered into a lopsided Democrat congressional majority, Democrats can’t go tit-for-tat with Texas.
Except maybe California.
California Gov. Gavin “Hair Gel” Newsom, who thinks he would make a great president (insert laughter here), would like to copy Texas’s plans for redistricting between census counts. However, Herr dictator has a problem.
In 2008, voters approved creating the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC) to make the process fairer. Using the most recent Census report, every 10 years, CCRC creates a new district map that supposedly makes the population more evenly represented in the U.S. House and state legislature. Unlike Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott could call a special session to create a new redistricting map, Gov. Hair Gel can’t do the same.
Hair Gel’s plan is to hold a special election later in the year for Californians to vote on disbanding the CCRC and returning redistricting to the state legislature. (Insert barf bag here.) Both voters and the legislature would have to approve this change.
Many observers say the special election would just be a façade since Democrats in the state often count ballots until they get the desired results. How can anyone take the results seriously, though, since the state lacks election integrity, as evidenced by mail-in ballots, the ability to vote numerous times in different precincts, multiple ballots sent to the same address or forwarded to an out-of-state address, unprotected ballot drop boxes, dead people voting, and ballots counted weeks after Election Day? North Korea might hold fairer elections than California.
Still, Republicans in the state are intent on keeping the CCRC, and there are some Democrats who also don’t want the legislature to decide redistricting.
Currently, the gerrymandering spotlight is on Texas. Guy Miller of North Carolina, who sends out a daily newswire on national and international events, shared:
One reason that Texas is in such a political mess is that Texas Democrats are smarter than Republicans. Although they are in the minority in the legislature, the Democrats are the ones who elect the Republican leaders. They audition potential Republican leaders to determine which ones will most effectively push their Democrat Party agenda.
When the Democrats are unanimous behind their chosen Republican, the Republicans are too fragmented to manage a majority on their own, so the RINO Republican leadership works for the Democrats, who hire and fire them. That’s why the Democrats always control the Texas legislature.
Redistricting in Texas became an issue when the DOJ Office of Civil Rights, under Harmeet Dhillon, notified the state that five of their Congressional districts are in violation of Federal laws for equal protection under the Constitution. Republicans in Texas know how to fix that, but the Democrats aren’t going to stand for losing any of their bogus Congressional seats.
Truant Democrat legislators hiding in Illinois remain defiant in the face of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s threat to have them removed from office for failure to perform their sworn elected duty, in violation of Texas statutes.
Texas wants our U.S. House of Representatives to be more representative, while California has a communist-like preference. Gerrymandering is another reason why so many U-Hauls in the once Golden State are headed in the direction of the Alamo.
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor
August 09, 2025, 11:48 AM
tatortodd
quote:
One reason that Texas is in such a political mess is that Texas Democrats are smarter than Republicans. Although they are in the minority in the legislature, the Democrats are the ones who elect the Republican leaders. They audition potential Republican leaders to determine which ones will most effectively push their Democrat Party agenda.
This in spades and that douchenozzle Dade Phelan is a good example of the author's point:
He got on many people's radar as the RINO Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and lead the 2023 charge to get Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton impeached.
He was up for re-election in 2024 and big push by actual Repbulicans to get rid of the guy. He lost the primary by such a margin that a runoff election occurred and lots of outside money poured in. Texas' Golden Triangle (Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange) fucked over the entire state of Texas by re-electing his RINO ass by less than 400 votes.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
August 09, 2025, 05:10 PM
Aglifter
Has there been any more news on who is financing the Dems?
August 09, 2025, 05:53 PM
Opus Dei
quote:
Originally posted by Aglifter: Has there been any more news on who is financing the Dems?
I turned on the radio too late to hear the entire clip, but heard how Ken Paxton says it's Soros money.
August 09, 2025, 11:00 PM
StorminNormin
These democrats need to be arrested for obstruction.
There are many items on the table for the special session beyond redistricting. One is PROPERTY TAXES.
Property taxes in Texas are out of control. Right now Travis County, Austin, TX area, is proposing to increase the property taxes rate by 3 times over what is allowed by law without voter approval. Every single year every county raises the tax rate the maximum allowed by law. Then they also raise the taxable value of your home which is basic double taxation. Travis County is proposing to raise the tax rate 3 times the maximum by declaring an emergency due to the recent floods to repair roads and bridges. Other counties were impacted worse than Travis County. Hell, we already pay a road and bridge tax in our vehicle registration every year!
I pay almost $15,000 a year in property taxes just to have the “right” to have the land I already paid for and paid taxes on when I bought it. That amount goes up every single year. That is absurd to pay that much money just to have your land. Something needs to be done and it is on the table for this special session, but they can’t do anything when the democrats tucked their tails and ran. I literally have to put aside more money than my mortgage payment every month just to cover the taxes. Then of course the insurance rate goes up every year they raise the taxable value. I hire a company that fights my property taxes value and they reduced the taxable value of my home this year by $40,000 but it is STILL an increase over last year.
Oh noooo… Another bomb threat at their hotel. Soooo sad…. That’s two since they’ve been here.
Horrible, I tell ya, just hor… Oh, Look! bundt cake!
______________________________________________________________________ "When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"
“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy
August 10, 2025, 07:15 AM
Bulldog7972
quote:
Originally posted by StorminNormin: These democrats need to be arrested for obstruction.
There are many items on the table for the special session beyond redistricting. One is PROPERTY TAXES.
Property taxes in Texas are out of control. Right now Travis County, Austin, TX area, is proposing to increase the property taxes rate by 3 times over what is allowed by law without voter approval. Every single year every county raises the tax rate the maximum allowed by law. Then they also raise the taxable value of your home which is basic double taxation. Travis County is proposing to raise the tax rate 3 times the maximum by declaring an emergency due to the recent floods to repair roads and bridges. Other counties were impacted worse than Travis County. Hell, we already pay a road and bridge tax in our vehicle registration every year!
I pay almost $15,000 a year in property taxes just to have the “right” to have the land I already paid for and paid taxes on when I bought it. That amount goes up every single year. That is absurd to pay that much money just to have your land. Something needs to be done and it is on the table for this special session, but they can’t do anything when the democrats tucked their tails and ran. I literally have to put aside more money than my mortgage payment every month just to cover the taxes. Then of course the insurance rate goes up every year they raise the taxable value. I hire a company that fights my property taxes value and they reduced the taxable value of my home this year by $40,000 but it is STILL an increase over last year.
IMHO, property taxes or as I call them, existence taxes, should not be allowed. They are taxing you to live. Unless you are using that property as a commercial business and making money off of it, there should be no tax. Residential property taxes are immoral and should be banned. I know, I know, "but how will we pay for things like the roads, the schools, the police and fire depts" is the usual rebuttal I hear when I mention this. We vote into public office people who tell us that they are smarter than us (they are not) better educated than us (they are not) and know what's better for us (they do not). Then prove it. Prove me wrong. Earn your money and at the very least, put a cap on property taxes even if only for senior citizens who are struggling to get by on fixed incomes and are in danger of losing their homes, a group that I (for the record) do not belong to.
August 11, 2025, 01:54 PM
wcb6092
Abbott Vows to Continue Calling Special Sessions Until Texas Democrats Return
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll continue to call special sessions of the Texas Legislature “for literally years” until Texas Democrats return to the state for a vote on redistricting.
“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days. And as soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another, then another one,” Abbott said during an Aug. 10 interview on “Fox News Sunday,” amid the ongoing standoff with at least 51 Democrats who have left the state.
The Democrats oppose the outcome of a would-be vote in the Republican-dominated state Legislature to advance redrawn congressional maps that are expected to increase the Republicans majority in the state’s federal House delegation in the midterm elections. The Texas state Constitution requires at least two-thirds of lawmakers be present to conduct official business.
They face the threat of arrest and forced attendance of the Legislature if they return, pending a deal with Texas Republicans to move forward on the issue. Abbott, alongside Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has threatened arrests and potential criminal charges for Democrats who don’t return to the state. Abbott indicated that he intends to stand firm on those threats.
“If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol. If they want to evade that arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years,” he said.
So long as the Texas House is in session, any lawmaker within the state who’s not in attendance—depriving the body of a quorum to conduct official business—can be compelled by authorities to attend the session.
Abbott’s promise to continue to call special sessions will mean that Texas Democrats who stand opposed to allowing the House to meet quorum may remain in self-exile from the state.