Emerging from a closed door session, Texas Republican Lt. Governor Dewhurst stated the last minute vote on Senate Bill 5 (SB-5) was moot. Earlier he claimed the passage of the bill but confusion over time weighed heavily on that statement.
Read the Senate Bill 5 Legislation.
Chaos and Doubt
Initially the state website time stamp on the vote showed passed midnight but was quickly changed. Next, came a series of questions as to what Senators were actually voting for near the end of the legislative session: some thinking it was to close debate.
Senator Davis (D) from Texas stood for over 13 hours to filibuster SB-5. Republican lawmakers claimed she broke rules of a filibuster and set to take a vote approximately one and a half hours before midnight. However, democrats used procedural steps to block a vote – until approximately 10 minutes before midnight.
Just as the Lt. Governor asked for a roll call, the gallery erupted in noise. The cheering and jeering created a level of confusion in which Mr. Dewhurst pleaded for the gallery to be quiet and he’d suspend the vote. Of course, he did not.
Shortly before walking off the front podium area, Mr. Dewhurst claimed the passage of SB-5. Hours later he reversed this decision. The state website has a notice that the voting records will be updated after access to the journal:
Once the journal for this day is available, the vote link will reference the official vote information in the journal.
All of the stunts by both sides of the debate will be moot. A special session will be called and the passage of SB-5 will most likely occur.