Texas House advances fundraising restrictions for lawmakers who leave state to block legislation

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The Texas House on Tuesday approved a bill that would severely restrict how much money lawmakers and their legislative caucuses are allowed to raise when they leave the state to stall legislative action.

House Bill 18 from Republican Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano would prohibit lawmakers from accepting daily political contributions beyond their per diem allocation — currently $221 a day, as set by the Texas Ethics Commission — should they leave Texas to deny their chamber the minimum number of present members required to conduct business. Absent members with cash to spend in their campaign accounts would also be barred from spending any of it on travel, food or lodging related to their out-of-state trip.

Violators would face fines of up to $5,000 for each infraction. HB 18 also lays out the process for members to contest the accusations in a district court and appeal a ruling to a year-old appeals court, whose three Republican justices were appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Members approved the legislation along party lines — 86-46 — following roughly four hours of debate and five failed attempts by Democrats to tack on amendments to the legislation.

Shaheen argued that current law created a financial incentive for lawmakers to halt the Legislature with their absence, and that his bill paves a path for either chamber to punish members who break quorum — which they are allowed to do under the Texas Constitution.

“HB 18 strikes a careful balance between a right of the legislative minority to resist legislation and a prerogative of the majority to conduct business,” Shaheen said Tuesday.

The measure is among the first Republicans have pursued to punish House Democrats after several dozen members left the state last month in protest of a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional map with the aim of getting the GOP more seats in the U.S. House. Legislatures typically redistrict at the beginning of a decade using a fresh census count.

After Democrats returned and the House approved the new district lines, Abbott — who decides which topics can be considered during special sessions — expanded his agenda, giving lawmakers permission to enact stiffer penalties for members of the Legislature who leave the state to freeze business at the Capitol.

Such legislation was needed, Abbott said at the time, “to ensure that rogue lawmakers cannot hijack the important business of Texans.”

“We each have a right and responsibility to represent our districts — and it’s the job of the voters to hold us accountable,” Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat, said in an opposition speech. “They have the right to vote me out of office.”

More punishments may be on tap beyond the fundraising limits.

House GOP lawmakers are preparing to update the chamber’s rules with further penalties for quorum breakers. That measure, House Resolution 128 by Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, is expected to reach the House floor on Wednesday.

If adopted, the new rules would increase fines against quorum-breaking members and allow the House to strip absent members of seniority and committee leadership roles.

Additionally, a House panel last week advanced another proposal from Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, that seeks to limit lawmakers' fundraising during overtime legislative sessions.

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