Perry Calls 3rd Special Session; Dems to Return

Continuing from my last post...the inevitable has occured.

Texas Senate Democrats to End N.M. Exile

Ten Texas Democrats who have been boycotting a vote on a GOP congressional redistricting plan are leaving their self-imposed exile in New Mexico and returning home for a court hearing and another special legislative session.

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini said Tuesday that the Democrats agreed Monday night to attend the court hearing in Laredo. After that, "the plan is we would return to our home districts," to wait until Gov. Rick Perry calls another special session, Zaffirini said.

Their decision was made after one of their Democratic colleagues, Sen. John Whitmire, abandoned the boycott last week and said he would attend a third special session if Perry calls one. Whitmire's presence would give the Senate the quorum it needs to conduct business.

"If (Whitmire) makes a quorum, then we need to be on the Senate floor," Zaffirini said.

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Perry calls third special session

State lawmakers will be back at work Monday. Gov. Rick Perry called a third special session for congressional redistricting.

The decision follows two special sessions on congressional redistricting during the summer. Neither produced a new redistricting plan as Democrats in the Texas Senate blocked a floor vote on a proposal. This time, the Senate Democrats holding out in New Mexico should be back in Austin.

Worth noting is this from the News8Austin link:

The remaining 10 Senate Democrats boycotting the redistricting process released a statement Tuesday.

"[The] betrayal by a former member of the Texas 11 moves the battlefield. It makes it imperative that we, the Texas 11 Minus One, return to Texas to fight Whitmire and the Republicans to prevent this partisan power-grab."

"Fight Whitmire"? This is so much a pathetic and stupid attempt at self-righteousness that it's shocking. I'm sure Whitmire is confused as hell...mainly because he doesn't support redistricting!

Whitmire said he opposes redrawing the state's 32 congressional districts, but that it was time to end the stalemate. He has said the Democrats cannot win because the Republicans outnumber them and are determined to do the redistricting.

"If the governor does call another unnecessary special session, I intend to fight redistricting on the Senate floor. I will be present," Whitmire said in a news conference in the Texas Senate chambers.

Stupid AWOL Democrats. Smearing one of their own like this is just dumb.

So what does this mean overall? Well, it's not like the Republicans can even agree on the proposal itself.

In Austin on Monday, Perry met with Republican legislative leaders to plan another special session on the redistricting amid one remaining obstacle, getting agreement among the Republicans themselves.

At issue is a squabble between House and Senate Republicans over the shape of a West Texas congressional district that currently includes Midland and Lubbock.

Sen. Robert Duncan, of Lubbock, wants to keep the district largely intact. House Speaker Tom Craddick wants new boundaries in which Midland has its own district.

"There is no deal on West Texas," Craddick spokesman Bob Richter said Monday after a meeting of the state's top three GOP officials.

Craddick, Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst met for about an hour in the governor's office.

Bill Ratliff doesn't like most of the plans, either.

So I don't really know what will happen. There will be a lot of fighting ahead. The redistricting plan I like the most is not likely at all to get any serious consideration. More time and money will be wasted on this.

UPDATE(9/23/2003 11:16pm)
More here.

UPDATE(10/12/2003 9:34pm)
Big News: a plan has been finalized and passed by both the House and the Senate.

Posted by Drizzten at September 09, 2003 10:44 PM