Texas House Speaker sets up tip line so people can snitch on Democrats who broke quorum

With the Texas House’s quorum break now in its second week, Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, is ramping up the GOP’s intimidation tactics to force Democrats back to the capitol for a vote on redistricting.

Burrows said Monday that Department of Public Safety officers have been dispatched to the homes of Democratic lawmakers throughout Texas — which might explain why San Antonio State Rep. Josey Garcia over the weekend alleged that plainclothes officers were staking out her home.

Burrows has also unveiled a toll-free tip line so concerned citizens can reveal the whereabouts of the quorum-breaking Democrats, though in most cases, the errant lawmakers’ whereabouts are known.

Nonetheless, the number — (866) 786-5972 — is now live and accepting calls.
It would be a shame if anyone was to repeatedly call it and waste state authorities’ time. And definitely no one should ring it up and read from Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” a satirical essay that suggests eating the poor, which is essentially what the GOP redistricting plan does to the already disenfranchised.

And absolutely no one should call the number and play Texas cowboy music such as Kris Kristofferson’s “The Law is for the Protection of the People,” which is against abuses of the the law such as — I don’t know — issuing an arrest warrant for something enshrined in the Texas Constitution when you yourself are an indicted Attorney General.

And — we really can’t stress this one enough — NO ONE should ring up the hotline and blast the song “Fuck Greg Abbott” by Trashkat, which is just rude and uncouth.

Anyway, however you choose to spend your afternoon, we hope you won’t lower yourself to the pettiness of making this tip line totally useless.

Cheers!

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This article appears in Aug 7-20, 2025.