By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX – "Members, a quorum is not present."
With those words, House Speaker Tom Craddick Monday morning announced what everyone expected - a sufficient number of Democratic members of the House had successfully staged a "hideout."
Before a mostly empty House of Representatives, Craddick first rejected an early request for a motion for a "Call on the House" from Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa). He later accepted a similar motion from Rep. Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock). With 15 members offering seconds to the motion, the motion passed. The House sergeant then locked the chamber doors, leaving members within the chamber unable to leave, but also allowing incoming members to enter.
The House leadership was in hopes of "capturing" the necessary number of representatives to constitute a quorum to conduct legislative business. This came on the heels of some 50-plus absence letters being delivered to the House Parliamentarian this morning. That action followed weekend rumors that a sufficient number of members would stage a walkout Monday to halt legislation.
Without a quorum, legislative business cannot be conducted, and major legislation must be out of the House by midnight Thursday.
Following Craddick's announcement, Krusee offered a motion that the House Sergeant, "send for and arrest all absentees whose absence is not excused for the purpose of securing and retaining their attendance."
Rep. Jim Dunnam's (D-Waco) chief of staff held a press conference this morning to announce the absence letters had been delivered. Weekend rumors were that enough Democratic members of the House would not show up this morning for roll call to derail contentious legislation, in particular the Congressional redistricting bill.
It took two verification votes to determine how many members were on the floor. Following the first vote tally, Craddick announced a second because some additional members were admitted to the floor after the first vote tally began.
When the second verification vote was complete, there were not enough members to constitute a quorum.