Beowulf
07-28-2003, 07:41 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=1&u=/ap/20030728/ap_on_re_us/texas_redistricting_2
AUSTIN, Texas - Democratic state lawmakers fled Texas on Tuesday for the second time in three months to thwart a Republican drive to redraw the state's congressional districts.
Eleven of the 12 Democrats in the state Senate left for Albuquerque, N.M., as a first special session called by the governor to address redistricting drew to a close and he called a second special session, scheduled to begin Wednesday. The second session could last as long as 30 days.
In May, during the regular spring session, the Republicans tried to push redistricting toward a vote in the GOP-controlled state House. But 51 Democrats in that chamber fled across the state line to Oklahoma to block a quorum, killing the bill.
Republicans are pressing for more seats in the state's 32-member delegation in the U.S. House; the Democrats currently hold a 17-15 advantage. Republicans say that ratio does not reflect the state's increasingly Republican voting patterns.
Most Democrats want to keep the existing congressional map drawn by a three-judge federal panel in 2001, calling redistricting a power grab pushed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican.
The Senate and House adjourned their special session Monday afternoon. Shortly afterward, Republican Gov. Rick Perry called a new one.
Two-thirds of the Senate's 31 members must be present to conduct business. The absence of the 11 Democrats can hold up passage of any bill.
During the first special session, Senate Democrats were able to block a redistricting bill that could have given Republicans an additional seven seats. Eleven Democrats and one Republican stood firm against the bill.
Senate rules require that two-thirds of the chamber support a bill before it can be taken up for debate. Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has said he would do away with that rule during the second session so that only a majority would be needed to debate a bill.
Arghhhh!!!!
AUSTIN, Texas - Democratic state lawmakers fled Texas on Tuesday for the second time in three months to thwart a Republican drive to redraw the state's congressional districts.
Eleven of the 12 Democrats in the state Senate left for Albuquerque, N.M., as a first special session called by the governor to address redistricting drew to a close and he called a second special session, scheduled to begin Wednesday. The second session could last as long as 30 days.
In May, during the regular spring session, the Republicans tried to push redistricting toward a vote in the GOP-controlled state House. But 51 Democrats in that chamber fled across the state line to Oklahoma to block a quorum, killing the bill.
Republicans are pressing for more seats in the state's 32-member delegation in the U.S. House; the Democrats currently hold a 17-15 advantage. Republicans say that ratio does not reflect the state's increasingly Republican voting patterns.
Most Democrats want to keep the existing congressional map drawn by a three-judge federal panel in 2001, calling redistricting a power grab pushed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican.
The Senate and House adjourned their special session Monday afternoon. Shortly afterward, Republican Gov. Rick Perry called a new one.
Two-thirds of the Senate's 31 members must be present to conduct business. The absence of the 11 Democrats can hold up passage of any bill.
During the first special session, Senate Democrats were able to block a redistricting bill that could have given Republicans an additional seven seats. Eleven Democrats and one Republican stood firm against the bill.
Senate rules require that two-thirds of the chamber support a bill before it can be taken up for debate. Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has said he would do away with that rule during the second session so that only a majority would be needed to debate a bill.
Arghhhh!!!!