In attempting to redraw its congressional districts, Texas is only doing what Democrat-controlled states have already done, Texas state Rep. Tom Oliverson told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Oliverson, who is the Republican caucus chair for the Texas House, explained to "Wake Up America" that his "and other conservative states are responding and doing basically the same redrawing of their maps using the same rules that blue states have already done."
He said,"We need a two-thirds majority to transact business in the Texas House. We were about four votes shy of that yesterday. There were a few Democrats who elected to stay and represent their constituents and do their duty."
This came as on Monday Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the arrest of the 51 Democrat lawmakers who fled the state to prevent the House from carrying out the redistricting.
Oliverson said that the special session in the Texas House is not only for redistricting, but among other important issues, also dealing with the aftermath of the horrible flooding in the state last month — which killed some 200 people — and making sure such a tragedy does not happen again.
Oliverson stressed that the 51 Democrats "have run away from all of that, and it is very embarrassing."
Oliverson said that while they are gone and a call on the House is in effect, as it is right now, for every day that they do not report to the House, there is a $500 fine. He emphasized that it cannot be paid from campaign funds but must be paid personally. If the Democrats who fled the state don't pay that within the first 30 days, then 30% of their office budget is put into receivership, and they can't have that back until they pay the fine.
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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