(JustPatriots.com)- With many of the cowardly flee-baggers’ back in Austin, the Texas State House resumed work on the new voter integrity bill the show-boating Democrats stalled back in July. And as tempers flared during debate, Speaker Dade Phelan on Thursday demanded that members refrain from using the word “racism” during debate.
This decision was prompted after Democrat member Gina Hinojosa claimed the bill was “intentional discrimination” and asked “Is that racism?”
Phalan said that while House members may have strong disagreements on the bill being debated, “our rules require that we conduct ourselves in a civil manner and treat our colleagues with respect.” He argued that it was possible for the House members to debate the “racial impacts” of the legislation “without accusing members of this body of being racist.”
When called out on it, Hinojosa claimed that she was not accusing members of the House of racism.
Yes she was.
But since calling their opponents racist is what Democrats do when they have no substantive argument, it must have been quite a blow to them to be deprived of their one and only weapon.
Lawmakers debated the bill for more than twelve hours, then the bill advanced Thursday night setting up a final vote for the next day. And on Friday, the House passed the bill 80 to 41.
This vote came more than a month after Texas Democrats fled the state aboard chartered jets and traveled to Washington DC, depriving the Texas House of the quorum required to move forward with the legislation.
While not every Democrat lawmaker returned, enough came slinking back in recent days to end the stalemate.
The Texas Senate had already passed its version of the bill earlier this month despite Democrat State Senator Carol Alvardo filibustering it for fifteen hours.
On the state House side, lawmakers made some changes to the bill before passing it. So now the bill will either go to conference committee where the two chambers can work on a new version of the bill, or the Senate could simply vote to approve what the House passed and then send it on to Governor Greg Abbott to be signed into law.
