Courage. Solidarity. Strategy. Tenacity. Patriotism. House Democrats forged those qualities into action Sunday night to kill giant voter suppression bill SB 7 in Texas’ 87th Legislature. But it was GOP hubris that held the door open for the Democrats’ walkout and the death of SB 7. The plan might be worth the title Killer Ds Jr., after a 2003 Democratic effort to stop a poor redistricting plan in its tracks earned that delegation the title “Killer Ds.”
Republicans seemed giddy with power Sunday night, the last night of work scheduled for two years. They laughed and joked and paid little attention to serious discussions before them. Medicaid coverage for medically fragile children, fixing the electrical grid, responding to disasters and pandemics -- life-altering legislation got short shrift. House members talked on cell phones, played video games, chatted in little clusters, milled around the floor, took selfies. Speakers could barely be heard over the din.The GOP seemed confident its plan would work: Delay SB 7 late enough in the session to push Democrats backs against the wall and pass the bill in its most extreme form. Senators delivered a bill in the wee hours Sunday morning that would even allow an election to be overturned easily.
As Sunday afternoon and evening wore on in the House chamber, Democrats lost request after request of the speaker. Republicans had delayed action on the bill so late in the session that Democrats faced stricter time limits on asking questions to learn what was in the bill. Speaker Dade Phelan granted GOP requests to suspend rules, to lay out previously unknown provisions and amendments after the deadline. The public and Democrats on committees in both the Senate and the House had no time or just a few hours to read new portions of bills. Hundreds of pages of rules and analysis, $36 million in new spending and the most sacred rights of our democracy were at stake in SB 7.
All of this happened against a backdrop of racism. Rep. Nicole Collier, chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, was the only black member of the SB 7 Conference Committee that comprised three Democrats and seven Republicans. But the committee never conferred, according to CC Chairman Sen. Brian Hughes. Didn’t meet once. Democrats on the conference committee had zero involvement in shaping the most significant election bill in modern history.
Hughes never said who actually put the final product together or knew what it contained. House and Senate committees that considered either HB 6 or SB 7 heard hours and hours of testimony on how much harder the bills’ suppression effect would be on voters of color. House Elections Committee chair Briscoe Cain demeaned Collier, refusing to grant her common legislative courtesy during a public hearing on HB 6. Later, during a lull in debate on the House floor May 6, Cain strode to Collier’s desk and invaded her personal space, poking his finger toward her face. He then walked to Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s desk and flailed wildly at her.
Testimony in both the House and Senate revealed that those who drafted the bills did not confer with civil rights organizations representing communities of color, even though they are more heavily affected by the bill by far.
Democrats’ scheme by farto defeat the bill in the regular session began to unfold Saturday evening, just after 10 p.m. Working on the schedule that the House had to pass the final version of the bill by midnight, Republican House leadership seemed confident it could enforce time limits to easily make the deadline. Democrats kept to their usual practice of challenging the facts, logic and effectiveness of the bill and filed points of order. Casually dropping notes and surreptitiously signaling one another, Democrats strolled around the floor and left unnoticed through different exits. Wrapped up in assuring Democrats would get no quarter with their motions and points of order, Republicans were in a scrum around the speaker’s desk, paying little attention to the movement. The last sound from Democrats was Collier screaming at Repubican Rep. Matt Krause, who had been following Democrats around all day taking pictures, “Stop harassing me!”
Denied a quorum, the Republican-led House could not continue with its business and SB 7 died on the floor. It might rise again in special session, but for now it’s only a bad memory for Democrats.
Democrats can now hope that Texans’ refusal to buckle under huge GOP-leaning odds to crush democracy will put starch in the spines of their federal counterparts. We must do whatever we can and some things we may not to preserve our sacred right to vote. Make good trouble.
-- By Kathy Williams
© 6/2/1921Kathryn L. Williams
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