The Committee on House Administration voted to pass HR 128 and move it to the full House after a committee debate that focused on new sanctions for members who participate in quorum breaks.

Mr. Moody, a member of the Committee on House Administration, said the resolution would add recalculation of seniority, automatic rescission of chair or vice chair appointments, pro rata deductions from a member's monthly operating budget tied to days absent, and an increase in fines from the current $500-per-day level to a penalty set at three times a member's per diem. "This provision is violative of the Texas constitution," Moody said, arguing the rules leave an open-ended penalty clause that could allow unspecified future sanctions and that members need to know penalties in advance to satisfy due process.

The resolution also includes a 24-hour notice provision and a due-process hearing for penalties levied under the subsection Moody described. Committee members debated whether the language is sufficiently specific; Moody said the catchall "any other penalty" language would not give members adequate notice of punishments. "If you wanna have sanctions, have sanctions. But you cannot violate the Texas constitution and leave some open door to some unnamed penalty that's not here," Moody said.

During his remarks Moody described how the rules would treat seniority: he characterized the recalculation provision as equating days absent to lost seniority within the session and said the rules permit the Committee on House Administration to allow members to reselect offices and parking spaces if recalculated seniority changes relative rankings. He also described the fine change as moving from a flat $500-per-day fine to "three times per diem," and said the per diem figure he recalled was about $222 per day, though the transcript contains inconsistent figures on the exact per-diem amount.

After discussion, the chair moved that HR 128 be passed and sent to the floor. The clerk called the roll; the committee recorded six ayes and two nays and the motion passed. The committee adjourned without further action on the measure.

The discussion centered on internal House rules rather than an external statute; Moody repeatedly cited Article 3 of the Texas Constitution when arguing members must be given clear notice of penalties. The transcript shows the measure was presented as applying going forward and not retroactively to past quorum breaks.