The session has begun.
Sort of.
Tuesday January 10th 12 noon, House and Senate members got sworn in and became official. Representative Dade Phelan (R- Beaumont) was elected Speaker with a vote of 147 to 3. The 3 went to Representative Tony Tinderholt (R- Ft Worth). History tells us that members who vote against the eventual Speaker do not necessarily fare well. Time will tell if this trend continues. This futile effort was not a surprise. Representative Tinderholt has not been subtle about his intentions. He leads a small group of Republican members who feel that the Texas House has not quite completed its starboard tack, Speaker Phelan being the current main impediment in that further shift to the right.
The complaint or issue de jour for this session is the long-standing habit of appointing a small number of minority party chairman. This has been a tradition in the Texas House (and Senate) as long as there has been a party in the minority (R or D). While we wait to see the eventual committee assignments in both Houses, there is a good chance that there will be several D chairs in the House at least. Last session there was only 1 D chairman in the Senate, John Whitmire (D- Houston) who was chair of the Criminal Justice committee. We should know soon whether that trend continues.
While the Senate committee assignments should be completed soon, the House will be awhile coming. House members have been requested to submit their committee preferences by Thursday January 26th. The challenge by the Speaker and his team at that point is to arrange the puzzle between members, attempting to align their seniority requests with the Speaker’s desires and construct committees that can function to accomplish the work that the House needs to complete. Think of a wall of puzzle sticky note pieces with names on them, being moved around to complete a picture. Not an easy task considering all that is attempting to be accomplished with the finished picture.
Water has figured in both Governor and Lt. Governor agendas as well. It has been many years since water was front and center of the legislative consciousness, this discussion is greatly needed. With on-going droughts and regular flooding now becoming our new normal, it is time for the state to take a leadership position on water and spend some of this unusual surplus on water infrastructure.
As of today approximately 2,000 bills and resolutions have been filed. Over 1450 House bills and about 500 Senate bills. Many dealing with property tax reductions, and, after listening to both the Lt. Governor and Governor inaugural speeches I think it is pretty certain that we will see property taxes reduced. While it sounds like a significant amount of money most of the proposals would result in less than $200 per year on the average home. While certainly better than nothing, not by much.
In addition, both the Governor and the Lt. Governor mentioned (to varying degrees) improving the power grid and school vouchers. The voucher discussion has never been particularly serious during past sessions with a coalition of rural Republican and Democratic House members coming together to defeat any effort. While the Governor talked about his support of school choice during the campaign, the Lt. Governor qualified his support with the desire to protect rural communities. How far this effort progresses remains to be seen. Regardless, this type of issue manages to remove lots of oxygen from the room and eat up lots of legislative time.
A number of other issues will also steal time from needed infrastructure discussions including:
Transgender considerations, abortion restrictions, border security, CRT and other red-meat Republican issues. If past is prologue, figure that bills will pass and be signed reflecting these interests.
The General Appropriations Bills have been filed. Lots of water still to pass underneath this bridge as this is just a beginning. Both the House and Senate bills are very similar emphasizing tax relief, school funding, and border security. While both spend similar amounts they of course differ in the details. Both bills leave approximately $50 Billion on the table based on Comptroller Hegar’s budget estimate. 127 days till the session over. Hang on, its going to be a bumpy ride.