Topline
Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier will stay in the Texas Capitol until Wednesday, according to a statement from the Texas House Democratic Caucus, refusing to leave the building overnight to protest a GOP requirement that forced Democrats who recently fled the state to have police escorts to and from the House until mid-week.
Collier stayed in the House chamber Monday evening. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Collier said in a statement she refused to “sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts.”
The caucus’ statement said Collier did not sign a “permission slip” for an escort conducted by Texas Department of Public Safety officers.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Republican, assigned DPS officers to escort the Democrats who fled the state this month and returned to the chamber Monday, ending a two-week standoff over a proposed congressional redistricting likely to give the GOP an additional five seats in the U.S. House.
Collier, who was initially confined to the House chamber, will be able to leave the floor to go to her capitol office but will not be able to do so without a DPS escort, according to a 7:42 p.m. EDT update from NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler.
Collier also alluded in her statement to redistricting, saying “these maps will harm my constituents—I won’t just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination.”
Forbes has reached out to the Texas House Democratic Caucus and the Texas House Republican Caucus for comment.
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Crucial Quote
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said in a tweet the use of permission slips and escorts to leave the chamber is “not procedure” and is “some old Jim Crow playbook,” blasting Republicans and saying they have “lost their damn minds.”
Key Background
Collier is one of over 50 Democrats who left Texas this month to block a vote on the congressional redistricting map that could build on the GOP’s slim majority in the House. Democratic lawmakers left for states like Illinois, Massachusetts and New York, arguing the proposed map would suppress Black and Latino voters. Following arrest warrants and lawsuits from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging the Democrats’ departure, the lawmakers returned Monday after California Gov. Gavin Newsom committed to proposing California’s own redistricting maps that, if passed, would nullify the gains the GOP could make in the House with the Texas redistricting map. Democrats in other states have indicated they may follow in Newsom’s footsteps, potentially setting up a multi-state redistricting fight between Democrats and the GOP.
Further Reading
Will Redistricting Fight Spread After Texas And California? These States Could Be Next (Forbes)
