Defiant Texas House members remaining absent from the state legislature stand to be fined nearly $400,000, according to the state chamber’s rules.

The financial penalties cold surpass $3.2 million if the lawmakers stay away during potential successive legislative sessions this year, Politico reported.

The Texas House in 2023 approved new punishments for quorum-breaking include a $500 fine for each day a member is gone, The Texas Tribune reported at the time. The punishment is aimed at members who go “absent without leave for the purpose of impeding the action of the House.”

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