CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — KRIS-TV political analyst Dr. David Smith provided his thoughts on the Texas Democratic departure.
Smith, a political science professor at Sam Houston State University and a former professor at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, met with KRIS-TV anchor Katia Uriarte to provide his thoughts about this national story about Texas politics.
This is not the first time Texas Democrats have broken the quorum by leaving Austin.
A group of 12 state senators went into hiding in 1979 to prevent the Texas Senate from reaching quorum on two bills related to Texas presidential primary elections.
The group of 12 was nicknamed "The Killer Bees." They went into hiding from May 18 to May 22, 1979.
The late Corpus Christi state Sen. Carlos Truan was one of the Killer Bees.
William Hobby, who was lieutenant governor at the time, called the senators "The Killer Bees" because as he told a reporter, "you never know when they're going to hit next."
More recently, in 2003 Texas Democrats left the state so there wouldn't be a quorum on legislation having to do with redistricting.
And under the Texas Constitution, there is no limit on the number of special sessions the governor can call.
It seems that everybody has something to say about the proposed changes to Texas voting laws.
A plane supporting the missing politicians flew with a banner around the Texas State Capitol Tuesday.
The message on the banner read "don't mess with Texas voters. y'all."
It was arranged by Voto Latino.
“Governor Abbott and the Republican-led Texas legislature simply aren’t registering how angry they’re making their constituents by forcing through this package of voter suppression laws," Voto Latino CEO and president Teresa Kumar said. "We’re going to remind them from on the ground, in the sky, and however else necessary, that you’ll regret messing with Texas voters and their fundamental right to have their voice heard in our democracy.”
