house committee assignments texas

Understanding Texas Committee Appointments

Table of contents.

In the wake of the loss of the super colliding super conductor that would’ve put Texas on the global map, I cheered with optimism as a scientist was finally elected to Texas congress. He ran on a platform that he would correct the mistakes of funding that lead to recent waste in scientific funding. However I was stunned when, after his election, he was not appointed to the committee on science and technology. In fact he was appointed to a committee that had very little to do with anything (waste management). This was because, as we’ve discussed in our explanation of how Texas bills become laws , committee assignments have little to do with ones speciality or knowledgeable, but rather how senior the elected representative is.

While we’ll have section at the bottom with helpful links and sources, note that both the Texas house and senate have two different official websites that we’ll go ahead and link to now. In addition to the helpful links at the bottom of this page, we’ll continue to update this page with information about committee appointments and committee assignments as they happen.

• Texas Senate Website
• Texas House Website

Why do Committee Assignments Matter?

Before a bill is voted on in either the house or the senate, it first goes through the relevant committee. This works the same way whether you’re in Texas, Georgia or even at the federal Government level. The reasoning for committees is that chambers of congress cannot vote on every bill that gets filed (there’s just too many) so committees are a way of making the process “manageable.” If a bill fails to make it out of the committee (be it the Senate or House), the bill is dead. So the stakes are high.

What do they do?

Once a bill is successfully filed by an elected representative, the bill is assigned to the relevant committee. If the bill is first filed in the house then it is assigned to a House committee. If the bill is filed in the Senate, then it is assigned to a Senate committee. Once a bill is assigned to a particular Committee they’ll call in relevant experts and have a series of debates within the committee before voting. If the bill passes the committee in the respective chamber, then the bill goes to the floor of that chamber first (where it is debated) and then ultimately a vote from all members in that chamber.

All bills must go through this process, committees cannot be bypassed.

How Are They Chosen

If you’ve read the entire article up to now, you should be asking yourself “Well, how are committee assignments chosen then?” Good question. In Texas the Senate and the House have a different process but both rely on the head of the chamber (Speaker of the house and the Lieutenant Governor) determining committee assignments based on referrals from their own party.

How House Committees Appointments Are Made

In Texas, House committee assignments are made by the speaker of the house, according to the official Senate website (and note the importance of seniority): “The members give the speaker the authority to appoint the membership of each standing committee, subject to rules on seniority, and to designate the chair and vice chair for each committee. Under the rules, the speaker is responsible for referring all proposed legislation to committee, subject to the committee jurisdictions set forth in the rules. The rules also allow the speaker to appoint conference committees, to create select committees, and to direct committees to conduct interim studies when the legislature is not in session.”

However that’s not all of it. The first part, perhaps the most important part, explicitly makes reference to the importance of seniority. Via official house rules , half of a committees’ seats are assigned by seniority. In cases where representatives have equal seniority, the speaker makes the call on who gets the seat. After half of committee seats are decided, the Speaker of the House then chooses the rest of that committees appointments.

The most recent speaker of the house was Dade Phalen , who took over the position in 2021.

How Senate Committees Are Chosen

Senate committee assignments in Texas are appointments made by the Lieutenant Governor. The standing Lieutenant Governor is conservative radio talk show host Dan Patrick (but not the former ESPN talk show host).

Current House Committees

Here is the full list of all 34 (plus multiple subcommittees) current in the Texas house of representatives. Let’s take one example to show you how to see the activity (and current members) of a committee. On the previous link, click on any one of the committees from the list. We’ll take the first one, the Agriculture & Livestock Committee.

The red line points to “Bills Referred”–this will take you to the following page which indicate which bills were referred to the committee during the previous session. The list is split into two sections “Bills In Committee” and “Bills Out Of Committee.” The bills out of committee are the bills that successfully passed through the committe.

Current Senate Committees

Below is a table of the current senate Committees in Texas in tabular form. Though their official website is hard to navigate and looks like it was built in the 1990s (one of the reasons we made this website), the official Texas Senate Website is actually full of information if you know how to access it. Notice that the Texas Senate has only 15 committees committees compared to the House’s 34 (not counting sub-committees).

Helpful Links

House Committee meetings : Every house committee in the Texas legislature keeps a list of every meeting that took place, the witness list for the meeting, and the minutes of the meeting. You can access this by clicking here and clicking on the relevant committee. This will pull up a list of every committee meeting from the session selected.

Watch and see upcoming house Committee Meetings : This page will be updated when the session begins with the schedule of house committee meetings. You will also be able to access a live stream of all committee meetings from this page.

Senate Committee Meetings : The previous link will take you to a page, similar to the first link that sent you to a list of house committee meetings, only this takes you to a list of Senate committee meetings.

Watch and see upcoming Senate Committee Meetings : The previous link will take you to a page that, after the session begins, will be updated with a schedule of all upcoming meetings by committee in the Senate.

Find Committee Assignments By Name : This reverses the structure and allows you to look for committee assignments by elected representative. As we discussed, most representatives will serve on 2-3 different committees with the more senior representatives being on the more “important” committees.

TexasLawChanges.com is a website dedicated to monitoring, communicating and informing Texans about law changes across the state. 

Speaker Dade Phelan shakes up Texas House leadership with new chairs on key committees

With assignments out, legislation that has been filed can be referred to committees for potential hearings. The committees overseeing public education, budget writing and redistricting are among those with new chairs.

Sign up for The Brief , our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan shook up the chamber’s committee leadership Thursday , signaling who his top lieutenants will be during his first session overseeing the lower chamber.

State Rep. Greg Bonnen , a Friendswood Republican, will now oversee the budget-planning House Appropriations Committee, replacing state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione , R-Southlake. Bonnen is brother to former House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, who retired after one term at the post following a scandal over secretly recorded comments he made about other House members.

In another move, Houston Democrat Harold Dutton will now chair the Public Education Committee. Dutton replaces state Rep. Dan Huberty , R-Houston, the longtime chair who in 2019 helped pass massive reforms to the state’s school finance system.

Dutton’s appointment is particularly notable since he has joined Republicans in supporting the growth of charter schools and other forms of schools outside of traditional public schools — often a major point of division in educational politics . In past sessions, Dutton has authored legislation that would provide charter schools with more state funding and authority to run programs for students who have dropped out or are at risk of doing so. Many other House Democrats are opposed to the expansion of charter schools, which have more freedom from state regulations than traditional school districts.

The House Redistricting Committee, which will be particularly powerful this year, will also have a new chairman: State Rep. Todd Hunter , R-Corpus Christi. Hunter replaces state Rep. Phil King , R-Weatherford. Hunter will spearhead the redrawing of the state’s political maps for the House, a once-in-a-decade process that lawmakers are expected to tackle in a special session later this year . Federal judges previously found that state lawmakers charged with redrawing those maps in 2011, "including specifically Rep. Hunter," racially gerrymandered districts in Nueces County "to further undermine Latino voting strength."

Other significant committee shifts included state Rep. Briscoe Cain , a Deer Park Republican and member of the hardline conservative Freedom Caucus, who now chairs the House Elections Committee. Cain flew to Pennsylvania after the November election to help former President Donald Trump's legal team unsuccessfully challenge election results in the state. Some of Texas’ most prominent Republican politicians joined Trump in amplifying misinformation about the election after his loss to President Joe Biden. Although he's left office, Trump is currently facing an impeachment trial, accused of inciting the violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol last month. Cain replaces state Rep. Stephanie Klick , R-Fort Worth, as the Elections Committee chair.

Another member of the House Freedom Caucus, state Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth, will now chair the General Investigating Committee, replacing state Rep. Morgan Meyer , R-Dallas, who will serve as chair of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

In an email to House members announcing committee assignments, Phelan wrote that he "never could have anticipated how difficult the task of assigning committees would be" before winning the speaker's gavel.

"Please know that throughout this process, I have been invariably mindful of the requests that were made of my office, and although it would be impossible to accommodate every request, each was given thoughtful, due consideration," he wrote.

With assignments now out, legislation that has been filed can be referred to committees for a potential hearing. Over in the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last month announced committee assignments for the 2021 session.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Will Metcalf , R-Conroe, replaces state Rep. Charlie Geren , R-Fort Worth, as chair of the House Administration Committee, and state Rep. Chris Paddie , R-Marshall, will serve as chair of the House State Affairs Committee, which Phelan chaired during the 2019 session.

State Rep. Dustin Burrows , R-Lubbock, will now chair the House Calendars Committee, which oversees the timeline and order for which bills reach the House floor for debate, replacing state Rep. Four Price , R-Amarillo. Burrows was also involved in the 2019 political scandal that led to Bonnen's retirement and resigned as chair of the House GOP Caucus following allegations that the two were planning to politically target fellow House Republicans in the 2020 primaries.

According to the speaker's office, 21 chairs of the chamber's 34 standing committees are Republicans and 13 are Democrats. And a Democrat — state Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso — is again serving as speaker pro tem, a position he held under Bonnen during the 2019 session.

Five committee chairs and 14 vice-chairs are women, while 14 chairs and 21 vice-chairs are Black, Hispanic or Asian American.

Compared to 2019, Democrats this session have one more chair and three additional vice-chairs serving on committees, though the 83-67 split in the chamber remains unchanged. Democratic state Rep. Terry Canales of Edinburg will again chair the House Transportation Committee, and Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston, who previously chaired the House Public Health Committee, will now oversee the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee.

Two others already in leadership positions — Rafael Anchía of Dallas and Chris Turner of Grand Prairie — will chair the House Pensions, Investments and Financial Services and the Business and Industry committees, respectively. Anchía, who serves as president of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, previously chaired the International Relations and Economic Development Committee. And Turner, who serves as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, chaired the House Higher Education Committee.

Aliyya Swaby contributed to this report.

Texans need truth. Help us report it.

Independent Texas reporting needs your support. The Texas Tribune delivers fact-based journalism for Texans, by Texans — and our community of members, the readers who donate, make our work possible. Help us bring you and millions of others in-depth news and information. Will you support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation of any amount?

Support independent Texas news

Become a member. Join today.

Choose an amount or learn more about membership .

Information about the authors

Cassandra Pollock

Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies , including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news.

Explore related story topics

Public education 87th Legislative Session Budget Dade Phelan Texas House of Representatives Texas Legislature

• Investigations
• Directory of Officials
• Conservative Leader Awards
• Israel Trip 2025

Where Are House Committee Assignments?

Texas is 26 days into its 140-day legislative session, and House committee assignments have yet to be announced.

By Sydnie Henry | February 6, 2023

Committee assignments in the Texas House have not been announced, despite the Legislature being nearly one-fifth of the way through the legislative session.

House Speaker Dade Phelan (R–Beaumont) is responsible for assigning committees for Texas’ biennial legislative session, which runs for 140 days.

Conservative activist Tom Glass noted that of the past few legislative sessions, only in one were committee assignments released later than this session.

  In 2017 former House Speaker Joe Straus (R–San Antonio) released the House committee assignments 31 days into session.

Political strategist and commentator Luke Macias said , “There’s definitely not a rush by any means for the House to begin working.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who serves as president of the Texas Senate, announced the Senate committee assignments on January 23, less than two weeks after the session’s opening day.

At this point, the House had just begun taking committee assignment requests from members.

According to Macias, “The longer you take to appoint [House committees], the longer it takes to organize.”

“The first 30 days of the Legislature is set aside to file bills,” explains Macias. “And then the next 30 days is set aside for committees to take up and consider and hear and take action on those bills. And then at the 60-day mark, the Legislature can take up and consider on the House floor for debate any legislation.”

As the 30-day mark creeps closer, the House has yet to assign committees, and Gov. Greg Abbott has yet to announce the date of his state of the state address—where his emergency priorities are determined. Notably, for the first 60 days of session, only the governor’s priority legislation can be taken up on the House floor for debate—after first going through a yet-to-be-assigned  House committee.

Phelan is expected to announce committee assignments for members of the Texas House later this week, and Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to announce a date for the state of the state address for next week.

No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters. Just real news for real Texans. Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way !

Sydnie Henry

A born and bred Texan, Sydnie serves as the Managing Editor for Texas Scorecard. She graduated from Patrick Henry College with a B.A. in Government and is utilizing her research and writing skills to spread truth to Texans.

RELATED POSTS

Cruz Campaign Criticizes Rep. Allred for Voting in Favor of Biden EPA Mandates

The Ted Cruz campaign says Allred is out of touch with Texas values because Texans don’t want to be forced to buy electric vehicles.

Rep. Chip Roy Calls on Speaker Johnson to Oppose Drafting Women Into Military

The Texas congressman led the warning alongside an Illinois congresswoman and 22 other Republican lawmakers.

Amarillo Young Republicans Endorse Pro-Life Ballot Initiative

Proposition A would designate Amarillo as a Sanctuary City for the Unborn.

Ken Paxton Blasts Weaponization of Political System on Impeachment Acquittal Anniversary

Paxton said he won a battle against “the most corrupt forces in the State of Texas.”

• Lone Star Politics
• Politifact Texas
• Austin History

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan names committee chairs. Here's who'll lead the groups.

The Texas House stuck with its tradition of awarding committee chairmanships to both parties, but Democrats, who are outnumbered in the 150-member chamber, received fewer positions of power than they did in 2021 during the last legislative session.

Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, announced his committee chairmanship picks Wednesday.

"I want you to know that everything that you requested was taken with the utmost deliberate care and utmost respect for yourself and your district," the second-term House leader told members before his list was read aloud on the House floor. "My goal is for every single one of you to have the tools you need to be a vital part of this House and accomplish what you came here to do."

Republicans, who hold a comfortable 86-64 House majority, won many of the most prestigious assignments: Angleton's Greg Bonnen, a six-term veteran was again tapped to head the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, and Corpus Christi's Todd Hunter, who is among the chamber's most senior members, given reign over State Affairs. The State Affairs Committee traditionally handles many of the most consequential, and often most controversial, bills in any given session.

Nine Democrats were given chairmanships:

• El Paso’s Joe Moody (Criminal Jurisprudence)
• Robstown’s Abel Herrero (Corrections)
• Dallas County’s Victoria Neave Criado (County Affairs)
• Houston’s Harold Dutton (Juvenile Justice and Family Issues)
• Houston's Senfronia Thompson (Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety)
• Mission's Oscar Longoria (Business and Industry)
• Uvalde's Tracy King (Natural Resources)
• Edinburg's Bobby Guerra (Resolutions Calendars)
• Edinburg's Terry Canales (Transportation)

More: Last session Democrats broke quorum. Texas House now has penalties to prevent that.

Notably, Phelan named Fort Worth Republican Charlie Geren to be speaker pro tem. The position is largely ceremonial, but was previously held by Moody in the last legislative session until Phelan stripped him of the title during the Democrats’ quorum break. 

Public Education gets Republican chairman

Arguably one of the biggest shake ups was on the Public Education Committee. Phelan picked Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, to lead the group, taking the chairmanship from the minority party. 

Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, previously held the position during the last legislative session, where he helped slow the progress of a controversial bill that restricted transgender youth's ability to participate in sports until Phelan redirected the legislation to a Republican-chaired special committee during a special session. House Bill 25 ultimately passed. 

The Public Education Committee is set to be the stage of a number of battles this session with Republicans looking to push a school voucher program that faces fierce opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans. 

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based conservative think tank, applauded Buckley’s appointment in a news release Wednesday. 

“Representative Buckley will be an excellent chair for the House Public Education Committee, and we look forward to working with them this legislative session,” said Mandy Drogin, campaign director for TPPF’s Next Generation Texas initiative. “This is an important first step in ensuring that Texans have a system that respects the parent and ensures transparency and a high-quality education on school campuses.”

Why committee assignments matter in the Texas House

Every piece of legislation that lawmakers act on is vetted through committees, both in the House and Senate. The Senate named its panels late last month, about two weeks into the 140-day session that started Jan. 10.

Each committee member, regardless of party, gets to vote on whether to send a bill to the full chamber. But it's up to the committee chairs to decide which bills even get hearings and which ones get passed over.

And even if a bill is heard, the committee chairs decide if and when any vote will be called. Each committee has a vice chairman — often from a different party than the chairman — but vice chairs traditionally adhere to a chairman's wishes when they preside over a panel when the chairman is absent.

More: Texas Senate: Here's who will chair committees in the 88th legislative session

Why have a Democratic chairman?

Many hardline conservatives in and out of the Legislature have tried to pressure Phelan away from giving committee chairmanships to Democrats but the speaker made clear he intended to continue the tradition. Dating back to when Democrats were in charge of the House, tradition held that chairmanships would be handed out at the discretion of the speaker, and each has seen value in giving at least some members of the opposition party a seat at the adults’ table.

Matt Rinaldi, a former state representative who now chairs the Texas Republican Party, saw a mixed bag in this year’s bipartisan assignments.

“The good: Opposition to Democrat Chairs clearly had an effect, as the # of Dems in leadership was significantly reduced,” Rinaldi said in a tweet. “The bad: Republicans awarded 8 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 health.”

What the House's top Democrat is saying

"As chairman of the House Democrats, it comes as no surprise that a Republican speaker would want fewer Democrats in leadership," state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, "What I don’t understand is why fewer women and minorities were appointed to leadership despite the speaker himself lauding that the Texas House is more diverse than ever before.

"It is a disservice to these committees and to Texas to intentionally reduce the voices of women and communities of color in leadership."

What's next in the Legislature?

With the House and Senate having made their committee assignments, the bills lawmakers have filed since November can be scheduled for hearings.

That means individuals and interest groups with stakes in the outcome will be increasing their presence in the Capitol to either testify for or against the legislation on their radar or open back-channel connections to target lawmakers and their staffs in hopes to influence outcomes.

Who's in charge?

Here is a list of the chairs and vice chairs of the Texas House Committees for the 88th legislative session. For a list of all the members on each committee go to the committee page on Texas Legislature Online . 

• Chair: Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco
• Chair: Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Mary González, D-Clint
• Chair: Rep. Oscar Longoria, D-Mission
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton
• Chair: Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas
• Chair: Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-College Station
• Chair: Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton
• Chair: Rep. Joseph Moody, D-El Paso
• Vice-Chair: Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield
• Chair: Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco
• Chair: Rep. Terry M. Wilson, R-Marble Falls
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Ray Lopez, D-San Antonio
• Chair: Rep. Reggie Smith, R-Sherman 
• Vice-Chair: Rep. John H. Bucy III, D-Austin
• Chair: Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., D-Eagle Pass
• Chair: Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa
• Vice-Chair: Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-Mission
• Chair: Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston
• Chair: Rep. John Kuempel, R-Seguin
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston
• Chair: Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston
• Chair: Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin
• Chair: Rep. James B. Frank, R-Wichita Falls
• Chair: Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress
• Chair: Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez, D-El Paso
• Chair: Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch
• Chair: Rep. Harold V. Dutton Jr., D-Houston
• Vice-Chair: Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio
• Chair: Rep. DeWayne Burns, R-Cleburne
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford
• Chair: Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston
• Chair: Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, D-Garland
• Chair: Rep. Tracy King, D-Batesville
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Ed Thompson, R-Pearland 
• Chair: Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Stan Lambert, R-Abilene
• Chair: Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen 
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston
• Chair: Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Campos, D-San Antonio
• Chair: Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie
• Chair: Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-Mission
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Gary Gates, R-Richmond
• Chair: Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Ana Hernandez, D-Houston
• Chair: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg
• Vice-Chair: Rep. John Raney, R-College Station
• Chair: Rep. J. M. Lozano, R-Kingsville
• Chair: Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston
• Chair: Rep. Sam Harless, R-Spring
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin
• Chair: Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston
• Vice-Chair: Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston

• All Our Stories
• Agriculture & Animals
• Film & TV
• Food & Drink
• Heel To Toe
• Stories From Texas
• Texan Translation
• Typewriter Rodeo
• Weekend Trip Tips
• Where There’s Smoke
• Border & Immigration
• Business & Economy
• Crime & Justice
• Disability in Texas
• Energy & Environment
• Child Welfare
• PolitiFact Texas
• Week in Texas Politics
• Health & Science
• Military and Veterans’ Affairs
• Texas Newsroom
• Race & Identity
• Tech & Innovation
• Transportation
• Texas Standard
• Stories from Texas
• Show Archives
• Whole Shows
• How to Listen

Texas House Speaker appoints eight Democratic committee chairs, fewer than last session

Share this story with a friend:.

Gabriel C. Pérez / KUT News

Speaker Dade Phelan announced committee positions on Wednesday , appointing only eight Democrats to chair standing committees compared to the 13 he appointed during the last legislative session.

This decision came after an unsuccessful push by some Republicans in the GOP-controlled House to ban Democrats from chairing committees altogether. 

Phelan also tapped some fresh faces to lead at least two closely-watched committees, appointing Brad Buckley, a Republican from Killeen, to chair the Public Education Committee and Todd Hunter, a Republican from Corpus Christi, to helm the State Affairs Committee.

Niki Griswold, who covers state politics for the Austin American-Statesman, said the committee assignments shook out as she expected. She expected Phelan to appoint some Democrats, but after pressure from the right wing of the party, it isn’t surprising that he reduced the number of Democratic chairs, she said. 

“These committee chairs play a very important role in deciding which bills live or die in this process,” she said. “The committee chairs decide which bills get a hearing in their respective committees, which is really important for getting public testimony, especially for those more controversial bills. And even after those hearings happen, these committee chairs decide which bills will get a vote from the committee and potentially get sent to the floor of the full chamber for a vote by the body.”

Griswold said her eye is on the Public Education Committee, which last regular session was chaired by a Democrat and is now chaired by a Republican.

“ That’s a really important committee, especially this session, which is set to be the stage of a lot of heated debates, particularly over school vouchers, which is a push from the GOP that has some pretty strong opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans,” she said. “Now, Public Education is chaired by Rep. Brad Buckley. So we’ll have to see how open he is to this debate surrounding school choice and vouchers.”

Griswold said the other new committee chair, Todd Hunter, is deeply respected in the House and has been a close ally of Phelan’s. His committee, State Affairs, also handles controversial topics. 

“ Typically, that committee hears some of the most controversial and consequential bills, often related to immigration or LGBTQ issues,” she said. “This committee is one of the most powerful in the House. We will definitely expect to see a lot of heated debates in that committee this session.”

Overall, Griswold said Phelan rewarded his allies and avoided appointing powerful Democrats to committee seats or chairmanships. 

“Speaker Phelan … was pretty clear in slapping the wrists of the Democrats who led the effort to break quorum last session,” she said. “We don’t see a lot of really powerful Democrats as chairs or vice chairs in this session. So I think we did see Phelan reward his supporters.”

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it  here . Your gift helps pay for everything you find on  texasstandard.org  and  KUT.org . Thanks for donating today.

More from 02/09/2023

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra the latest salvo in the smartphone wars

Dude! Dairy Queen is just different in Texas.

Abbott appears to issue warning to state agencies that consider diversity in their hiring practices

Two Texas progressives get seats on the House Oversight Committee, which will conduct investigations into Biden

Texas A&M archeologists find prehistoric projectile in mastodon rib

Two 81-year-old best friends have begun their expedition around the world

Flowers that never die: why these North Texas collectors love LEGO

Texas Standard for Feb. 9, 2023: What Texas House committee assignments say about this session

The texas standard is a partnership of.

©2024 Texas Standard. A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin | Contact us

• Our Successes
• Media Requests
• Request a Speaker
• Endorsements
• Opportunities
• Issues Overview
• Religious Liberty
• Marriage & Family
• Merry Christmas Law (2013)
• Pastor Protection Law (2015)
• Freedom to Serve Children Act (2017)
• Save Chick-Fil-A Law (2019)
• Texas Heartbeat Law (2021)
• Save Women’s Sports Law (2023)
• Stop Child Gender Modification Law (2023)
• Protecting Kids from Drag Queen Shows Law (2023)
• Church Ambassador Network of Texas
• Texas Values App
• Email Sign Up
• Find Your Elected Officials
• Texas Marriage Declaration
• Merry Christmas Texas
• Texas Values University
• Texas Legislative Guide
• Voters Guide
• Podcast – Texas Values Report
• One-Time Donation
• Monthly Partnership
• Stock & Bond Donations
• Donor Advised Funds
• Gift & Estate Planning
• Retirement Account Giving

Recent Video

Texas House Committee Assignments

The talk around the Capitol continues to increase regarding when Texas House committee assignments will be announced.  At this point, most believe it will be next Thursday, or early next Friday.  Texas Senate committees were annouced last week, which we have posted here on our blog.

We will also post the full list of Texas House committee assignments when they are officially announced. 

One committee we are watching closely is State Affairs.

Last session, this committee was chaired by a conservative Republican.  So with the Speaker of the House continuing to be a Republican, we expect we’ll see the same type of member chair this committee again.  With the leadership of the past members of this committee and our support, major pro-family, pro-life, and pro-religious liberty bills were passed out of this committee.  We hope to have the same success this time around as well. 

As a reminder, the chairman of a committee has the power to allow or deny a hearing on a bill and to allow or deny a vote on a bill.  So one person can decide if a bill “lives” or “dies.”

• Texas Values
• Action Center
• Marriage and Family