Texas House panel approves $8k fines for Democrats who left state during summer redistricting fight

Under House rules enacted in 2023, members who break quorum can be fined $500 for each day they are absent, plus additional fees for the cost of “securing [their] attendance.” Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican who chairs the committee, sent letters to the quorum breakers in late August and again in January, informing them that they each owed $9,354.25. That included $7,000 in daily fines and each Democrat’s $2,354.25 share of the nearly $125,000 the state said it spent trying to bring them back to the capitol.

Geren told reporters the committee struck two Sundays when the House was not in session from the final bills, reducing the fines by $1,000. Democrats pushed for other costs reported by the state to be reduced, but those requests were denied.

Geren said new letters would be sent to the 52 members indicating the final charges, but did not specify when payments would be due.

Some Democratic lawmakers said the fines felt like political retribution for slowing the legislative process over the summer.

"What does it serve to continue to be rigid about these financial penalties when Democrats have already lost on this issue, and really, what are we going to achieve by imposing these financial penalties [on] members?" State Rep. Vince Perez, D-El Paso, asked. "What purpose does it serve, other than furthering this tone of divisiveness and conflict and almost vindictiveness?"

Zooming in

House rules prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay the fines, meaning members are expected to cover the costs themselves. Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, contested that rule April 10, telling reporters that state law preempts it.

“[House leadership] put that rule in place without thinking it through—state law says any cost of a political process, a political cost of your office, can be reimbursed by campaign [funds],” Wu said. “State law trumps the House rules, period.”

The Texas Election Code states that if an elected official makes a political expenditure out-of-pocket and discloses it under state law, that expense can be reimbursed with campaign funds. Community Impact reached out to House leadership for their comments on this portion of state code, but did not receive a response before press time.

“What [members] choose to do within the bounds of applicable law when the campaign committee makes campaign disbursements is up to them—HDCC is not fundraising to pay the fines and is unable to pay the fines directly on behalf of members,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

House Democrats who attended the April 10 hearing said they were aware of the financial penalties going into the quorum break, noting that they felt it was necessary to leave the state to advocate for Texans who would be impacted by the new congressional map.

"My constituents made it clear to me that if there's a quorum break, you'd better go. [They said], 'We are going to be single issue voters—if you don't fight for our rights, we are not going to vote for you,'" Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, told reporters. "I did exactly what my constituents told me to do, because they are the people that elected me."

Wu said he will pay his fines out-of-pocket, adding that he expects some Democrats “purely out of principle, will not pay it ever.”

Jones said she will not pay the fines and plans to continue disputing the charges.

"I'm going to appeal this all the way up, as far as I have to appeal it, because I didn't do anything wrong," she said. "I literally did what elected officials are supposed to do."

Members who do not make the payments could see their office operating budgets cut by 30%, per the House rules.

In September, House lawmakers voted to increase penalties for future quorum violations, including stripping committee leadership positions, reducing members’ legislative seniority and imposing steeper fines. Those penalties were not retroactively applied to the August walkout.

More details

The eleven-member House panel that approved the financial penalties includes five Democrats: Reps. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin; Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco; Joe Moody, D-El Paso; Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City; and James Talarico, D-Austin. Cole, Reynolds and Talarico participated in the August quorum break, while Martinez and Moody remained in Austin.

Cole argued that members were also being over-charged by the state. The Texas Department of Public Safety said it spent nearly $125,000 during the two-week quorum break, which includes trying to track down missing Democrats and, once they returned to Austin, serving as their around-the-clock police escorts until the congressional map was approved.

“Nothing in the House rules makes members liable for costs incurred solely by DPS or any other agency,” Cole said in closing remarks shared before the committee voted on the fines.

No Republican committee members made closing statements or spoke with reporters April 10.

Jones, who is also an attorney, said she felt the committee violated her constitutional rights and “withheld [evidence] until the last minute.”

“I would lose my license—I would be sanctioned by the bar if I pulled off some crap like what happened in here,” she told reporters.

One more thing

After Texas legislators approved the congressional map in August, several civil rights groups sued the state over the new boundaries. An El Paso federal court blocked the map in November, but its ruling was overturned three days later by the U.S. Supreme Court, which later ruled that Texas could use the new congressional boundaries in this year’s elections.

Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats. State lawmakers have said the new map will help them gain up to five more seats ahead of the 2027 congressional term, although the true impact of the redistricting effort will not become clear until voters cast their ballots in Texas’ midterm election this November.