Texas House chair announces enforcement steps to compel absent members as flood-recovery bill awaits quorum

The chair of the Texas House announced a suite of enforcement measures and administrative changes after the chamber failed to reach a quorum, and said Rep. Greg Bonney would file House Bill 3, the House’s priority flood‑recovery and infrastructure bill.

The chair told members that “Attorney General Ken Paxton and I took action to domesticate the civil arrest warrants in the state of Illinois, seeking to make them enforceable beyond Texas state lines,” and that House administration had contacted the sergeant at arms of the Illinois House of Representatives for assistance. The chair said the Department of Public Safety was “working to track down absent members in an effort to return them to our chamber.”

Why it matters: Without a quorum the House cannot refer bills to committee or advance priority legislation. The chair said HB 3, developed “after 25 hours of testimony from Texans whose lives were upended by the July 4 floods,” cannot be referred while members remain absent, and urged members to return so the chamber can act on relief and infrastructure funding.

Details of enforcement and administrative changes were described on the floor. The chair said Comptroller Kelly Hancock and the chair had “enacted a new policy stating that any member absent for the purpose of breaking quorum will no longer have their paycheck or per diem deposited electronically.” The chair added, “While the Constitution forbids us from withholding pay, it does not dictate how we issue the pay. Those checks must now be picked up in person on capital grounds effective immediately.” The chair also said that “30% of each quorum breaking member's monthly operating budget will be reserved and made unavailable for expenditure.”

The chair listed administrative actions that would require the absent members to appear in person to approve: requests for travel reimbursement, personal action requests including changes to staff salaries, and approvals for newsletters and reproduction services. He warned that failure to appear would result in cancellation of newsletters and encumbered funds.

On cross‑jurisdictional enforcement, the chair announced the state had taken steps to “domesticate the civil arrest warrants in the state of Illinois” and said those efforts would continue; he also said the sergeant at arms had been contacted and that DPS was in the field. The chair told members, “Every hour you remain away is time stolen from those Texans in need.”

Rep. Greg Bonney was identified on the floor as the member who would file House Bill 3; the chair said the bill is the House’s priority for flood recovery and infrastructure funding but emphasized it “cannot be referred to committee without a quorum.”

A procedural motion to adjourn was made on the floor. Mr. Guerin moved that “the House stand adjourn until 11 a.m. Saturday.” With no objection, the chair declared the House adjourned. The chair also said members present that day “do not need to return until 1 p.m. Monday,” but that he expected all members to be present by Monday at the latest.

What was discussion versus formal action: The chair described enforcement steps taken with the attorney general’s office and House administration (administrative actions) and announced a new policy with the comptroller regarding pay distribution and budget encumbrances (administrative direction enacted by House leadership and the comptroller, per the chair’s statement). The motion to adjourn was moved by Mr. Guerin and carried with no objection. No recorded roll‑call votes on policies or penalties were announced in the transcript provided.

Additional facts from the floor: the chair stated there were 95 members present when the role was called and that a quorum had not been established. The chair referenced Rule 5, Section 3 of the House rules when discussing fines for members absent without leave. The chair also mentioned that the FBI had reportedly been enlisted in efforts related to absent members, and referenced members who requested strict enforcement (Moody; Raymond Muñoz; Mary González; Longoria Cortez; Martinez; and Morales).