Several Texas Democrats have revoked written agreements that limited their movement around the state Capitol and returned to the House chambers to stage a “sleepover” protest on Tuesday.
The so-called “permission slips” were issued to Democrats who broke quorum and fled the state in a 15-day fight over GOP gerrymandering. The slips, which they were forced to sign in order to leave the Capitol grounds, required them to have a police escort at all times.
State Rep. Nicole Collier, who had refused to sign the slip and already spent a night in the chambers, was joined by other Democrats on Tuesday in protest of the policy, with one shredding the written agreement.
“Who’s ready to tear up this slip?” state Rep. Mihaela Plesa said Tuesday, ripping the written agreement at the doors to the House chamber.
State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, who had originally signed the agreement, said she is now “correcting course.”
“Yesterday, I left in custody and I came back in custody, because I stand with Nicole Collier and Gene Wu,” she said. “This is illegitimate, this is a wrongful use of power, and I will not condone it, and I don’t want to be a part of setting a very bad and low precedent for future legislators.”
State Reps. Morales Shaw, Plesa, Rhetta Bowers, Cassandra Garcia Hernandez and Salman Bhojani joined Collier in the ovenright protest, along with Gene Wu, chairman of the Texas House Democratic caucus.
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“This is a civil discussion and disagreement, and in order to win, the other side is willing to use force — to use the arms of a state to get what they want. Good guys don’t do that,” Wu told CNN.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Collier was “within her rights” to protest.
“Rep. Collier’s choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules,” Burrows said in a statement Tuesday. A spokesperson for Burrows noted that Collier “voted for the rules that empower the speaker to set conditions for release.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris voiced support for Collier, calling the representative “strong” and “principled.”
“I just want you to know that you are among those who history will reveal to have been heroes of this moment,” Harris told Collier.
