Texas Supreme Court rejects request to quash Abbott’s legislative funding veto

The Texas Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by the Texas State House Democrats to overturn Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ‘s veto on funding for the state legislature.

Filed in June, the petition argued that Abbott’s veto was unconstitutional and violated the separation of powers between branches of government.

Abbott vetoed funding for the legislature after a group of state Democrats left Texas to block the passage of a voting law that critics said would limit voter access.

“Funding should not be given to those who quit their jobs earlier, leaving their state with unfinished business and exposing taxpayers to higher costs for an additional legislative session,” Abbott said at the time.

In its ruling, the Texas Supreme Court highlighted the meetings and events Texas Democrats have held to push for federal election legislation as well as the Texas Republicans’ insistence on adopting other legislative priorities. before turning to funding for the state legislature.

“These public statements and events make it clear that the subject of the mandamus petition – the lack of Article X funding for the legislature – continues to exist not because of a dispute between the governor and the legislature, nor even because of one between the governor and a minority of members of the House. On the contrary, the main dispute lies between the members of the Legislative Assembly, ”the court wrote.

The court ruled that Democrats’ arguments that Abbott vetoed the budget even though they were present were “entirely speculative.”

“And if a complete loss of legislative funding was imminent, one would expect other lawmakers in addition to members of the House Democratic Caucus to voice their concern,” the court added. “Neither the leadership of the Legislative Assembly nor any of its Republican members joined in [Democrats’] complaint that the governor violates the separation of powers.

The Texas Supreme Court said it was not for the judiciary to resolve disputes between the executive and the legislature. He also argued that House Democrats in Texas had another opportunity to vote on legislative funding during the second special session called by Abbott, which began last week.

“In the meantime, the governor and legislative leaders have announced that funding for the continuation of legislative operations is available until the end of September. For these reasons, the mandamus petition is denied,” the court wrote.