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Denying Republicans a quorum to enact voting restrictions will cost Texas Democrats more than $ 1 million, according to the state lawmaker leading the fundraising effort.
More than 50 Democratic members of the State House fled Austin for Washington, DC last Monday, crippling the House just as the GOP pushed forward sweeping election changes in a special session. Under the Texas Constitution, the legislature requires that a quorum of two-thirds of lawmakers be present to conduct state business in either chamber.
The price for keeping Democrats out of Texas until August 7, the session’s expiration date, is expected to be around $ 1.5 million, State Representative Armando Walle said in an interview.
Walle said the pair of private charter jets most lawmakers have brought to Washington cost more than $ 100,000, while accommodation, food and other transportation costs will make up the bulk of other expenses.
Who pays for the exodus has been an open question, as lawmakers hastily fled without a fundraising plan.
The charter planes were paid for by wire transfer from the State House Democratic Caucus just hours before take-off on Monday afternoon, after NBC News announced that lawmakers were planning to leave the city, a member of the caucus aware of the matter.
Members and staff also charged costs on their personal credit cards, lawmakers said.
A large block of hotel rooms at a mid-range Washington hotel have been booked with a House member’s personal American Express card, said a lawmaker, who added members expect to be reimbursed in the long term.
No taxpayer money is spent on the trip, and the Democratic House Caucus and other caucuses within the party, including the Mexican-US Legislative Caucus, have used existing funds to cover costs until present, said the caucus and staff.
Republicans argue that the trip actually costs taxpayers quite a bit of money. A month-long special legislative session is estimated to cost taxpayers over $ 1 million, and with Democrats pledging to stay out of town, no bills are expected to land on the Republican governor’s desk Greg Abbott.
“There is no excuse for their publicity stunt, and I join thousands of Texans in demanding that these Democrats return to work,” Abbott said recently, The Associated Press reported.
At the end of last week, after the first frantic days of meetings with Senators on Capitol Hill and Vice President Kamala Harris to advocate for the passage of federal voting legislation, the House Democratic Caucus has started soliciting organizations and individuals for financial support. The caucus also sent a fundraiser from Texas to DC to work with lawmakers.
Walle, the state representative, said the Democratic caucus is still counting donations and pledges, which it has so far estimated at $ 250,000.
The fight for the right to vote is personal, he said. Texas has a “long and dark history” of preventing voters of color from gaining access to the ballot box – “people like my grandfather, who is 91 and had to pay a ballot tax,” he said. -he declares.
Members have also fundraised individually, and Walle said he has noticed an increase in donations of small dollars.
“I think personally I have probably received five or six hundred very small donations from working class people who believe in the cause of safeguarding democracy,” he said. “It means a lot to me. It’s a bullet in the arm to continue this fight.”
The group works to keep things on a budget. Day three was the first morning which included hot breakfast items – earning cheers from sick bagel members, the caucus member said.
Other groups have also said they will help lawmakers raise funds.
Former Rep.Beto O’Rourke’s voting rights group, Powered by People, said they raised more than half a million dollars in the first 48 hours of lawmakers’ journey, with more than 14,000 donations . The average donation was just under $ 36, the group said, noting that the money would be transferred to legislative caucuses for official use. This includes a $ 5,000 donation from Texas country music star Willie Nelson.
“In less than three days, Powered by People has raised more than $ 500,000 so far for Texas Democrats who have led the fight in our nation’s capital to protect the franchise and ensure that we are overcoming this existential threat to our democracy. One hundred percent of what we collect will go to their support for as long as they need it and for whatever it takes to win this fight, ”O’Rourke said Weekly last.
The NAACP is raising money on a pledge to support Texas Democrats. He specifically pledged a bail fund for lawmakers in case someone is arrested while trying to block voting restrictions. Texas law enforcement officers can arrest lawmakers who fail to show up for work without a good excuse, but they do not have the authority to act out of state.
“We bailed out Freedom Riders in the 1960s and will do it again to support the Texas Democrats’ quest to fight unprecedented attacks on voting rights,” NAACP Chairman Derrick said last week. Johnson. “Saving our democracy is priceless, and we will continue to fight alongside them for as long as we can.”
Lawmakers earn $ 600 per month, as well as a per diem for each sitting day. Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan has asked the runaway Democrats to return their $ 221 a day, which at least one member said did not seem possible to do.
Texas Democrats plan to spend the week meeting with national suffrage and union leaders, election officials and other Democrats as they seek to keep pressure on Congress to pass legislation federal vote.
After the announcement over the weekend that three caucus members had tested positive for Covid-19, events were moved largely online.
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