Rule change to ban Democrat committee chairs fails on first day of Texas Legislative Session
January 19, 2023 | Austin, TX
The Texas Legislature opened their session with a bang on Jan. 10, starting with the election of Dade Phelan of Jefferson County as Speaker of the House. Despite pressure from grassroots Republicans to elect Phelan's lone opponent, Representative Tony Tinderholt of Tarrant County, Phelan was elected by a vote of 145-3.
Following Phelan’s election, the proposed ban of Democrat committee chairs failed in the debate of House Rules when the "Slaton Amendment” was killed on a point of order.
“If the people of Texas vote to give a certain party control of the government to make laws, their will should be honored,” said Representative Bryan Slaton of Hunt County, who proposed the rule change to ban Democrat committee chairs.
“The speaker of the Texas House showed utter contempt for Republican voters by refusing to even allow a vote on whether Democrats should be prohibited from holding powerful leadership positions," said Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi.
Why is this such a critical development?
Committee chair appointments are made by the Speaker of the House. Phelan has shown no interest in banning Democratic legislators from chairing committees even though this is one of the top eight Legislative Priorities of the Republican Party of Texas as approved by 80 percent of the more than 5,000 delegates at the Texas GOP Convention last summer.
This issue is at the heart of getting conservative measures through a Republican-controlled legislature. Committee chairs can, and do, kill bills assigned to their committees. It is expected Phelan will announce his appointments within the next few weeks.