AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Members of the Texas House of Representatives approved a motion to support giving more than $63,000 in back-pay to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton related to his impeachment trial, as a small number of state senators and representatives plan to meet behind closed doors to iron out the state's budget. State Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, one of Paxton's defense attorneys during his 2023 impeachment trial, filed the motion on the House floor Tuesday, which passed in an 88-56 vote. The motion instructs the House budget conferees to support paying Paxton $63,750 as they finalize the budget. Little pointed out the money would come from $19 million of unspent funds in the House's budget from the current biennium. Suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, stands with his attorneys Tony Buzbee, front, and Mitch Little, rear as his impeachment trial continues in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) "$63,750 is a small amount of money to the House of Representatives," Little said to his colleagues. "It's very significant to the attorney general, and if we believe that, not only politicians, but regular citizens are entitled to the presumption of innocence, we should truly believe that he should have been entitled to his salary during the course of his suspension." Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 and was automatically temporarily suspended from his office without pay for months. The Texas Senate eventually acquitted Paxton on 16 articles of impeachment, which accused Paxton of bribery, misuse of office and retaliation against former top deputies who reported him to federal authorities. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said at the time Paxton would not receive any back-pay from his suspension. Hegar said at the time that state law permits state employees to receive back-pay for instances they were found not guilty of a crime, but the same does not apply to state officeholders, like Paxton. Republican members of the House spoke in favor of the motion. State Rep. Wesley Virdell, R-Brady, brought up the issue of state employees being allowed to receive back-pay. "If the standard is no conviction, no consequence for judges, teachers and law enforcement, why is the attorney general the exception?" Virdell questioned. State Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, the author of the committee substitute on the budget, said he is in favor of the motion. State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said it is written down in law that if you are impeached, you lose your pay. He asked Bonnen on the House floor, "What we're asking the body to do today is to vote to exempt one of our own from the laws of this state?" "There definitely are some constitutional considerations, and there may be another legislative vehicle to address this," Bonnen responded. "There may be a way to get around the concerns that Rep. Wu has raised, but today it is more of a statement of sentiment." House members approved an amended version of the state's budget last week, and now the next step is to have a team from the Texas Senate and a team from the House, the conferees, meet in conference to agree on a final version of the budget. The motion passed today is not binding on the conferees, which means they do not ultimately have to do what the motion says. ...read more read less