Texas Legislature in full swing after delays
Republican activists visited the capitol on Jan. 12 to lobby against appointing Democrats as committee chairs.
February 25, 2023 | Austin, TX
Almost a month into the legislative session, Speaker of the House Dade Phelan announced committee assignments to all 36 House committees on Feb. 8.
Prior to making his appointments, throngs of red-shirted activists descended upon the Capitol in a last attempt to ban Democrats from chairing committees, but Speaker Phelan moved up the vote on this contentious topic by a day and dismissed the issue with a procedural move.
Ultimately, the Republican pushback resulted in fewer Democrat chairs, down from 13 in the 87th session to eight in the current session.
"Opposition to Democrat Chairs clearly had an effect, as the number of Democrats in leadership was significantly reduced," said Texas Republican Party Chair Matt Rinaldi.
All Democrat Committee Chairs:
Business & Industry: Oscar Longoria (D-Mission)
Corrections: Abel Herrero (D-Robstown)
County Affairs: Victoria Neave (D-Dallas)
Criminal Jurisprudence: Joe Moody (D-El Paso)
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues: Harold Dutton
(D-Houston)Natural Resources: Tracy King (D-Uvalde)
Resolutions Calendar: R.D. “Bobby” Guerra (D-Mission)
Transportation: Terry Canales (D-Edinburg)
“Concerned with crime spiraling out of control due to Dem soft on crime policies? Meet your new chair of Criminal Jurisprudence, Joe Moody, who blames violent crime on guns and Republican “hate-mongering” … appointed by a Republican,” continued Rinaldi.
Read disturbing article by Rep. Moody in El Paso Matters »
“Republicans awarded eight of 33 standing committees to Democrats, including putting left-wing Democrats in charge of important & partisan policy areas like criminal law, business, family Issues, and youth heath,” said Rinaldi.
As part of those 36 Committees, Phelan also created two select House committees: Youth Health and Safety and Healthcare Reform, as apparently both are sufficiently important to warrant their own committee. Democrat Senfronia Thompson (Houston) will chair the Youth Health and Safety Committee.
The problem with appointing Democrats to chair committees in a Republican majority legislature is not just that they hold different views, but that the chairs have the power to unilaterally kill Republican legislation.
Rinaldi stated that the appointment of Republican Representative Brad Buckley (R-Salado) could be the most school-choice friendly Public Education chair in over a decade.
Delayed State of the State Address
Governor Abbott’s address was held later than usual, 37 days into the session. According to the Texas Constitution, the House and Senate are barred from passing bills within the first 60 days of the session unless they are deemed priorities by the governor during his State of the State address. Conservatives across Texas lobbied for their legislative priorities to be included in the governor’s emergency items, to include issues on border security, banning gender modification and sexualization of children, vaccine choice and the elimination of property taxes.
Governor Abbott's emergency items:
Speaker Phelan announces his priorities
If Republicans were giving Speaker Phelan the benefit of the doubt after his committee appointments, 45 days into the session, Speaker Phelan announced his first slate of legislative priorities. None of the Speaker's priorities are priorities of Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, or the Republican Party of Texas.
"I have no comment, because I’m trying to figure out whether or not it was a joke,” Chairman Rinaldi told Texas Scorecard.
Take Action
Texas lawmakers have until March 10 to file legislation if it is to be considered during the 88th Legislative Session. Check out the bills that have been filed by your state lawmakers by visiting our State Representatives Progress Report. Encourage them to file bills supporting the Republican Party of Texas Legislative Priorities!