Texas House Dems in DC ‘re-evaluating options,’ seeking legal advice

More Dems need to return to improve voting bill, says GOP caucus chair

SAN ANTONIO – The second special session in Austin is underway but still crippled without a quorum. In Washington, D.C., Congress will return after its August recess.  Both impact what the remaining Texas House Democrats in the nation’s capital will do next.

“We will reevaluate our options with respect to what we’re dealing with in Austin,” said State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio.

At least for now, he said even though more of his colleagues have returned to Texas, the legislative standoff over voting rights goes on.

“I think that that will continue, even more so now that we have been threatened with detention and arrest,” Martinez-Fischer said.

As a result, he said, they’ll be talking to an attorney about their legal options.

“I do believe we have some remedies and rights, and I do believe that we’ll be exercising those rights. So more to come on that,” he said.

But State Representative Jim Murphy of Harris County, the House GOP caucus chair, said his message to those Democrats remains the same, “Come home. Get to work.”

“There’s a lot of work that’s been done, and when our colleagues come back, we’ll be able to do more,” Murphy said.

Despite lingering skepticism among Texas House Democrats, Murphy said, “We have a wonderful history of bipartisan success in the Texas House.”


About the Author:

Jessie Degollado has been with KSAT since 1984. She is a general assignments reporter who covers a wide variety of stories. Raised in Laredo and as an anchor/reporter at KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Jessie is especially familiar with border and immigration issues. In 2007, Jessie also was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.