Defiant Texas House members remaining absent from the state legislature stand to be fined nearly $400,000, according to the state chamber’s rules.
The financial penalties cold surpass $3.2 million if the lawmakers stay away during potential successive legislative sessions this year, Politico reported.
The Texas House in 2023 approved new punishments for quorum-breaking include a $500 fine for each day a member is gone, The Texas Tribune reported at the time. The punishment is aimed at members who go “absent without leave for the purpose of impeding the action of the House.”
The fine was implemented after Democrats fled the state in opposition to GOP voting restrictions in 2021.
Dozens of Democrat state lawmakers in Texas are scattered to blue states across the country in a last-ditch effort to prevent Republicans from adopting U.S. House maps that President Donald Trump wants in place before the 2026 midterm elections.
By leaving the state, Democrats are beyond the reach of Texas law enforcement, and they can effectively block any votes by ensuring the 150-member House does not have the quorum required to do business.
