January 14, 2021      3:38 PM

Throwing out the most contentious provisions among members, the Texas House approves rules during pandemic

A subtext of the rules discussion: The court record for the 2021 redistricting process is already taking shape

After much internal debate over limitations on amendments, a so-called “Consensus Calendar,” and a few other things, the Texas House on Thursday afternoon adopted its rules for doing legislative business during a pandemic. “It was a member driven process,” said Speaker Dade Phelan after the final vote of 141 to 0.

Saying he and a working group had listened to all sides, Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, declared “the Consensus Calendar is gone” as he laid out the rules. However, Rep. Hunter said that when it came to any tweaks intended to change the redistricting process, he would simply ask members to vote no. On partisan lines, they did.

By mid-afternoon, most of the talking on the microphones in the House was either Democrats already working to establish the court record for the 2021 redistricting process or Republicans who did not participate in the pre-discussion to eliminate contentious provisions like that defunct “Consensus Calendar.”

By Scott Braddock

Copyright January 14, 2021, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved