Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan defies GOP pressure, taps Democrats to lead committees

AUSTIN — Speaker Dade Phelan on Wednesday named Democrats as chairmen of nine Texas House committees.

In doing so, the second-term speaker defied some in his own party who wanted him to halt the chamber’s tradition of asking minority-party members to run at least some committees.

Phelan, R-Beaumont, sent members home for a long weekend with news they’ve eagerly awaited: Which committees will they serve on? When those panels meet to vet bills, who will wield the gavels?

In a veiled reference to the intraparty GOP dispute over whether Democrats should continue to serve as committee chairmen, Phelan stressed comity.

“The issues facing our great state will require thorough conversations and collaboration inside the Texas House, and our chamber does its best work when lawmakers use their skill sets and strengths to work together and build consensus,” he said in a written statement.

While last session, Democrats headed 13 of the House’s 34 standing committees, this year, Democrats will lead five fewer — eight.

That 24% share is the lowest minority-party share of committee chairmanships in at least 14 years. In 2009, newly elected Republican Speaker Joe Straus had 16 Democrats atop some of the 34 standing committees, or 47%.

Democrats’ numbers are down, though not at their lowest in the past two decades. At this time two years ago, Democrats held 67 of the House’s 150 seats, with one vacancy. That’s nearly 45%. Phelan gave them 38% of the committee chairmanships.

This year, they’re down to 64 members, or 43% of the chamber. And the 24% share of gavels is paltry by comparison.

In a news release, Phelan touted nine as the number of Democratic chairs.

To get there, though, he counted one of two “cross-jurisdictional forums” he created after the 2021 session — one to make health care systems more efficient and another “to mitigate the educational and mental health impacts that COVID-19 has had on Texas children.”

Both will continue. But Phelan replaced Kingsville GOP Rep. J.M. Lozano with Houston Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson as head of the Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety.

Even adding the two select committees to the 34 standing ones, Phelan’s committee chairs will be less demographically representative of Texas than those he chose in his 2021 debut as speaker: Eleven chairs will be Black, Hispanic or Asian American, compared with 14 last time. Three chairs will be women, down from five in 2021.

“It is a disservice to these committees and to Texas to intentionally reduce the voices of women and communities of color in leadership,” said House Democratic leader Trey Martinez Fischer.

Among Democrats whom Phelan rewarded were Dallas Reps. Victoria Neave Criado, who will lead the County Affairs Committee, and Toni Rose, who sits on Appropriations and is vice chairwoman of two panels, Calendars, which wields a lot of influence, and Human Services. Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Rowlett, is vice chair of Local and Consent Calendars.

Democratic lions tamed?

Phelan showed a clear preference for Democrats who weren’t ringleaders of the 2021 quorum break, in which most House Democrats fled to delay consideration of a GOP-backed “election integrity” bill.

Though she’s been in the House 30 years, Dallas Democratic Rep. Yvonne Davis, one of three senior Democrats who called for colleagues to protest “voter suppression” by not showing up, is not even a vice chair this time. Fifty-year veteran Thompson, though hailed by Phelan on Wednesday as one of two “deans” of the House, is not chairwoman of a standing committee this year. San Antonio’s Martinez Fischer is neither a chair nor vice chair.

Some key organizers of the Democratic flight, such as Dallas’ Jasmine Crockett and Austin’s Eddie Rodriguez, left the Legislature to run for Congress — and thus were beyond Phelan’s retribution. Austin’s Gina Hinojosa, though, is still around. While she was vice chair of Human Services last time, Hinojosa is neither a chair nor vice chair this year.

Instead of naming El Paso Democrat Joe Moody as speaker pro tem, as he did last time, Phelan turned to a Republican — Fort Worth’s Charlie Geren.

Many of Phelan’s longtime Democratic supporters won plum assignments: Mary Gonzáles of El Paso County returns as vice chairwoman of Appropriations. Moody will head Criminal Justice. Oscar Longoria of Mission leads Business and Industry. Tracy King of Uvalde chairs Natural Resources. Harold Dutton of Houston takes the gavel of Juvenile Justice and Family Issues.

Phelan’s top lieutenants

But for the “power committees,” Phelan stayed with his closest Republican allies. Greg Bonnen of Friendswood returns as chairman of budget-writing Appropriations, as does Dallas’ Morgan Meyer at tax-writing Ways and Means. Lubbock’s Dustin Burrows is chairman of Calendars, which serves as traffic cop in deciding which bills go to the entire House for debate.

Also repeating will be Plano’s Jeff Leach (Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence), Fort Worth’s Craig Goldman (Energy Resources, but also chairman this time of the House GOP Caucus) and Conroe’s Will Metcalf (House Administration, which allocates parking spaces and crucial logistical help to members).

GOP Reps. Angie Chen Button of Garland and Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth return as chairwomen, respectively, of the International Relations and Economic Development Committee and the Public Health panel.

Veteran Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, is the new chairman of State Affairs, which last time handled gambling and is the usual destination for bills on hot-button issues relating to LGBTQ Texans and immigration.

“Organizing the House” — that is, selecting members and chairs of committees — is one of the most powerful tools for rewarding allies and punishing enemies that a speaker has.

“It’s an impossible task to give everyone everything they want,” Phelan acknowledged.

Spurning his right flank

Late last month, under the leadership of party chairman Matt Rinaldi of Irving, the Texas GOP paid for a radio ad to air in Phelan’s Southeast Texas district. It asked constituents to call and demand that Phelan not give Democrats any gavels. In the 60-second spot, a narrator says the speaker is “teaming up with Democrats to kill our Republican priorities.”

Phelan has defended the practice as a worthwhile tradition that sets the Legislature apart from the frequent legislative gridlock seen in Congress.

Last month, a small group of staunchly conservative GOP House members sought to ban Democratic chairs as the chamber adopted its rules for this year’s session. But Phelan and his allies outmaneuvered them, preventing the issue from even reaching a floor vote.

At last June’s state Republican convention in Houston, delegates adopted eight legislative priorities for this year’s session that included ending the sharing of committee chairmanships with Democrats. Earlier, in the March GOP primary, 81% of voters agreed with a nonbinding proposition that no Democrats should be named, Rinaldi emphasized last month.

On Wednesday, even as he kept hammering Phelan, Rinaldi threw him a bone. The speaker’s naming of Killeen Republican Rep. Brad Buckley as chairman of Public Education is promising, he said.

“Buckley could be the most school choice friendly Pub Ed chair in over a decade,” Rinaldi tweeted.

Royse City GOP Rep. Bryan Slaton, who also demanded no Democrats be given gavels, joined Rinaldi in crediting staunch conservatives’ protests as at least partially effective.

“Our push took Dems from 13 chairs down to 8,” Slaton tweeted. “Pressure also led to Dems not being appointed as chairs to key committees like PubEd & Pensions.”

He was referring to Dutton, the new Juvenile Justice and Family Issues chief, and Rafael Anchía of Dallas, respectively. Last session, Dutton headed Public Education; and Anchía, Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services.

This year, the 10-term Anchía, though on four committees, is chair or vice chair of none. Southlake Republican Gio Capriglione replaces him as head of the pensions panel.