(The Center Square) – Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, refiled a bill he filed during the first special session to vacate seats of absconding House members. He filed the bill again on Friday after Gov. Greg Abbott called a second special session and House Democrats remained absent.

More than 50 House Democrats absconded to ensure the House didn’t reach a quorum in the first special session that ended Friday in protest against a Republican Congressional redistricting bill. A second special session was immediately called on Friday, at which only 97 members were present, three shy of reaching quorum. With no quorum, no bills can be passed.

The House reconvenes on Monday. House Speaker Dustin Burrows said House Democrats could be arrested over the weekend if they returned to Texas.

Cain’s bill would amend state government code to vacate a member’s seat due to excessive absence. It states, “A member of the legislature vacates the member’s office if the member is absent from all proceedings of the house of the legislature of which the person is a member, without a leave of absence granted by that house, for seven consecutive days on which that house meets.”

The one-page bill would take effect immediately if it received a two-thirds majority vote from each chamber of the state legislature. If a two-thirds vote isn’t reached, and the bill passes and is signed into law by the governor, it would take effect 91 days after the last day of the legislative session.

“Texans deserve lawmakers who show up,” Cain said when he first filed the bill. It would “vacate the seat of any legislator who skips 7 straight legislative days without an excused absence. If you abandon your job, you don’t deserve the title,” he said.

After the House adjourned on Friday after it didn’t meet quorum again, Briscoe posted a video stating that he was heading to the hospital to see his wife who had had a heart attack.

“A bright line to the Democrats not being in Austin today, there not being quorum, it would be that I get to go home and see my wife who’s currently in the hospital. She had a heart attack about three days ago,” he said, asking for prayers for her healing and recovery.

While Democrats didn’t show up for work, he said, he did.

I’m coming home. pic.twitter.com/NhBVZh0Gcu— Briscoe Cain (@BriscoeCain) August 15, 2025

State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, said House Democrats had “won” because they thwarted every single Republican priority, including property tax relief and redistricting.

Texas House Democrats were “allowed to do something even bigger than just thwarting the items that were on the agenda for special session,” he added. They were “able to move around the country freely without arrests to galvanize national public support against our very urgently needed redistricting efforts.”

“The bottom line is the Democrats have won. They've wiped the floor.”

He also blamed Republican leadership in the state, including Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Burrows, who “exacted exactly zero punishments on even a single one of these rogue Democrats. Despite all the promises to vacate their seats and arrest them, there have been zero Democrats with their seats vacated.

“There have been zero Democrats arrested. Not one Democrat has been pulled off a single [House] committee. Not one Democrat committee chairman … has lost their chairmanship. Not one Democrat has had their seniority taken off. Not one Democrat has had the governor, speaker or lieutenant governor pledge to kill their legislation,” he said.

He apologized to Republican voters, saying, “You deserve better. You demanded results and action. You elected President [Donald] Trump in a 14-point landslide. ... You deserve bold Republican leadership,” and instead received “weak, fecklessness.”

“I'm sick and tired of Texas Democrats fighting harder for the future of our state and our nation than Texas Republicans,” he said.

State Rep. Andy Hopper, R-Decatur, said when the House reconvenes and they reach quorum, “House Conservatives must stand firmly together to demand that harsh penalties are enacted to ensure that Dems never even CONSIDER abandoning their post in the future.”

This includes removing House Democrats who fled from their chairmanships, losing their seniority, losing “Dean of the House" privileges, and vacating their seats. He and others are also calling to redistrict the Texas House in an effort to remove House Democrats from office.