AUSTIN, Tx., April 14, 2026: Last Friday, the Texas House Administration Committee voted six-to-five to approve fining Texas House Democrats who broke quorum last year to stop the congressional districting the Republicans enacted after a second session of the Texas legislature was called. The Committee includes six Republicans and five Democrats, including El Paso legislature Joe Moody (D-78). Moody voted against the fines.
On August 3rd, 62 Democrats fled the state, breaking quorum to stop the Republicans from enacting a new congressional district map. Of El Paso’s five state representatives, only Vince Perez (D-77) joined the quorum breakers. Claudia Ordaz (D-79) was undergoing IVF treatments during the quorum break and although she did not participate, she posted on social media that she stood with the quorum breakers.
The three other state representatives are Moody, Mary E. González (D-75) and Eddie Morales, Jr. (D-74). They did not participate in the quorum break and announced they were present when the gavel opened the special session to consider the new maps on August 8, 2025.
The House Administration Committee voted to fine the Democrats $118,889.81 in costs the committee said Texas incurred in attempting to bring back the wayward Democrats. The Democrats were also assessed $303,000 in daily fines. In total, 53 Democrats were fined $8,354 each. The state representatives are paid $7,200 annually.
In addition to Perez, Ordaz also faced the committee’s fines, but she convinced the Committee to remove her fines because she was undergoing medical treatments at the time of the quorum break.
On August 22, 2025, Perez said during his remarks at the Texas House that the congressional maps were “systematically” diluting the “Latino and Black voting strength while cementing and increasing Anglo control” of Texas. In late March, Perez called the fines “an intimidation campaign, plain and simple.”
The House recently approved House Resolution 128 that increases penalties for members who break quorum. However, the legislation cannot carry over to the next legislative session under the rules of the House. Also, under the House rules, Perez cannot pay his fine using campaign funds. Perez says that he is evaluating his options before paying the fine.
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