Before speaking at a news conference on detention of migrant children, Greg Abbott, Texas governor, removes his mask. AP Photo/LM OteroTexas Democrats petitioned Texas' Supreme Court to reverse Gov. Greg Abbott's decision defunding the legislature was challenged by Texas Democrats.After Democrats failed to reach quorum, Abbott line-item vetoed any state budget funding.Plaintiffs claim that Abbott's line-item and vetoes were illegal and should have no effect.Check out more stories from Insider's business page.On Friday, Texas Democrats filed a lawsuit at the state supreme Court asking for the courts to reverse Gov. Greg Abbott's veto over the entire legislative budget.The legislature was occupied by Democrats who wanted to stop restrictive voting laws being passed in May. This led Abbott to line-item veto Article X in the congressional budget and to eliminate funding for approximately 2,109 full time positions.Texas' legislature meets only in odd-numbered year, so Abbott effectively wiped out two years of funding with his line-item vote. He also vetoed Texas' legislature's ability for the legislature to reapportion leftover funding. This effectively disallows legislators from finding a workaround.Chris Turner, chair of Texas' House Democratic Caucus and more than 60 Democratic House members filed the suit. They claim that Abbot’s veto was invalid for many reasons.Unconstitutional vetos have no effect. Abbott's is because it violates "Legislative Salary Clause". Abbott's is because it doesn’t allow legislators to decide how to allocate rollover money. Abbott's is because it violates Texas' Constitution's separation of powers clause.The petition only lists Democrats as legislators. However, Texas Speaker of Congress Dade Phelan stated to the Texas Tribune that he is concerned about Abbott's decision not to remove funding from the legislature.Continue the storyPhelan stated that while I understand the frustration of the governor in failing to pass those emergency items, they were priorities for the governor, mine, priorities and priorities of many members. "My concern is about how it affects staff, particularly those who live in Austin, which is not a cheap place to live or raise your children.Phelan pointed out that vetoing legislation funding defunds more then congressional pay. It also means no paychecks for civil servants and political staffers. "The workers who handle payroll, move furniture between offices," "who serve as parking attendants" are all exempted from the veto.Abbott has called for a special legislative session to be held on July 8, to start work on the election legislation that was not passed in the previous legislative session. Although legislators could theoretically pass a supplement budget to fund lawmakers and staffers, it would still need to go before Abbott.The Democrats have the option to skip the special session and to break quorum again. However, Texas Rangers would still have ample time to locate the legislators missing, as opposed to May.Business Insider has the original article.
