Austin, TX – Dean Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, released the following statement regarding their decision to stay in the Senate Chamber and vote against Senate Bill (SB) 4, which would redistrict Texas’ Congressional boundaries:

“We respect the decisions of the nine Democratic senators who left the Senate to support the House Democrats. By breaking quorum, 55 state representatives met their goal of preventing passage of the untimely, unfair Congressional redistricting bill and making it a national issue,” they said.

“Having spent 45 days in New Mexico in 2003, however, we learned that quorum breaks can delay but not defeat this effort. Legislators cannot stay away forever, and the Governor will call as many special sessions as needed to prevail. Our greatest hope is at the courthouse, and the sooner we get there, the better.

“We stayed in the Senate to question the author and to speak out in opposition. Most important, we made a record of voting against the bill. When it became obvious that redistricting would be argued anew during the second special session expected to convene on Friday, we reserved our right to raise questions and to make opposing statements at that time.”

Their decision follows public statements by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick signaling they will adjourn the 89th Texas Legislature’s First Called Session on Friday, Aug. 13, and immediately call Texas legislators back to begin the Second Called Session with the same legislative agenda.

As Gov. Abbott stated, he “...will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed.”

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