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AUSTIN - Texas House Republicans approved a new Congressional District Map on Wednesday. Democrats delayed the inevitable, but the clock ran out. Now that it's out of the lower chamber, the new map will be taken up by the Senate today.
A Senate Special Committee for Congressional Redistricting met on Thursday morning. The committee voted to report House Bill 4 to the full senate.
"There being five ayes, three nays and one absent, House Bill 4 will be reported to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation."
The backstory:
It passed the house 88-52 on Wednesday. The new congressional map would give Republicans five new seats in Congress.
Democrats left the state in protest, and once back in Texas they filed amendments to continue stalling the vote. They criticized Republicans for not holding hearings on the map in the second special session.
And before the vote, Republicans admitted the new map is designed to benefit their party.
What they're saying:
"You want transparency? Here's the U.S. Supreme Court legal transparency. The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance," said State Representative Todd Hunter, R-TX.
"So let's talk about cowardice and cheats, because if you knew you could win this next election, you wouldn't be taking this effort to try to steal five seats from elected officials that members of color elected to represent them in Washington, DC," said State Rep. Anna Johnson, D-TX.
What's next:
There will be Democratic opposition again today in the Senate, but not enough to keep the bill from passing. The floor vote is expected tonight starting at 7 p.m., before it will be sent to Governor Abbott for his signature.
The Source: Information in this article is from continuous coverage of the Texas Legislative Special Sessions by the FOX Television Stations staff.