Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on Monday signed a civil arrest warrant for a Democrat state lawmaker who left the state earlier this month and then returned to Texas last week before going back with his colleagues again to Washington, D.C.
The civil arrest warrant for Rep. Philip Cortez, the Democrat, won’t have an immediate impact because Texas law enforcement lacks jurisdiction outside the state. Earlier this month, Democratic state lawmakers fled the state, arguing that it was necessary for blocking the passage of a voting overhaul bill that they described as an attempt to suppress minority groups’ voting rights.
