Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the Democratic state lawmakers who flew to Washington, D.C. on Monday so the Legislature would not be able to vote on the Republicans’ elections reform bill can be arrested.
Speaking to Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Monday, Abbott said, “Once they step back into the state they will be arrested and brought back to the Capitol and we will be conducting business.”
"Most Un-Texan Thing To Do": @GregAbbott_TX mocks Dems for "running away from a fight," says they fled state bc they can be arrested for refusing work
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 13, 2021
Abbott also notes they're complaining about a bill that expands voting access far more than states like Delaware currently have pic.twitter.com/xXcwVkGdLA
This is not the first time state Democrats have protested voting on the measure, which they argue will restrict access to voting. Republicans say it will expand access, however.
"We are determined to kill this bill," said state Rep. Chris Turner, who said they’re attempting to run out the clock on the special session, reports Fox News.
The Republican governor called "running from a fight" the "most un-Texan thing you've ever heard."
But Abbott said no matter how many times they pull these stunts, he will keep calling special sessions.
"I can and I will continue to call a special session after special session after special session all the way up until election next year. And so if these people want to be hanging out wherever they're hanging out on this taxpayer-paid junket, they're going to have to be prepared to do it for well over a year," the governor told KVUE, according to Newsweek.
"Everybody who has a job must show up to do that job, just like your viewers watching right now. State representatives have that same responsibility," he added.
Update: "The Texas House on Tuesday voted 76-4 to have the Sergeant at Arms send for at least 51 members who have gone to Washington, D.C., possibly using arrest warrants, to get them back to the state," reports KVUE.