Summary: Update: This issue was killed -- by a political procedural move -- by House Chair Phelan before it could brought to the house floor during the second day of the TX House legislative session.
One of the more contentious issues in the 88th Texas Legislative Session for the Republican controlled Texas House will be assigning Democrats to important House Chair positions. / State civics is an integral part of Willow Park civics and of Willow Park Civics. WPC is providing a blog of articles on specific legislative topics, during the 88th Texas Legislative Session. We will update and repost this blog as new information develops about DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE CHAIRS legislation.
Latest Update: Friday, 13 January, 2023
Select #Tags for additional articles: #StateLegislation
Democratic Committee Chairs in a Republican Controlled TX House, 88th TX Legislative Session
Updated 19 January 2023
• Rep. Tinderholt Takes Stock of Speakership Challenge, Unsuccessful Effort to Ban Democratic Chairs, The Texas, 19 January 2023
Update 11 January 2023
• Texas House Adopts Session Rules, Kills Proposals to Ban or Restrict Democratic Chairs, The Texan, 11 January 2023, Excerpts. Whereas last session members had to vote on proposals to ban Democrats from chairing committees, such record votes were avoided. Proposals to ban or restrict the appointment of Democrats as committee chairs in the House were the feature of today’s Rules debate. Both efforts failed, but in a different way than during the last session. [W]hen the proposals actually came to the floor, both were immediately “point of ordered” — a procedural maneuver to highlight parliamentary issues with the bill or resolution and kill its consideration — by state Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth).
• Effort to ban Democratic chairs fails in Texas House, but rule passes to penalize future quorum-breakers, The Texas Tribune, 11 January 2023, Excerpts. House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, snuffed out a monthslong push Wednesday to end the chamber’s longtime tradition of having committee chairs from both parties. / Texas House leadership on Wednesday shut down a long-building push to ban Democratic committee chairs, deploying procedural legislative maneuvers to defeat multiple proposals on the issue. / The chamber also approved new punishments for members who break quorum, as most House Democrats did two years ago in protest of GOP-backed voting restrictions. Those members left for Washington, D.C., for weeks to stop the House from being able to do business in an effort to prevent passage of the bill. Under the new rules, quorum-breakers can now be subject to daily fines and even expulsion from the chamber. The chamber passed the overall rules package by a vote of 123-19, with Democrats making up most of the opposition.
• Phelan on Democratic Chair Fight, The Texan, 13 January 2023, Excerpts. “Yesterday was the Texas House in all its glory,” Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) told a gaggle of reporters on Thursday. / On Wednesday, the Texas House adopted its rules for the 88th Legislative Session without provisions sought by some to ban or restrict Democrats from committee chairmanships.
“I expect vigorous debates on a lot of issues and I’m happy to have those debates,” he added. “We had some yesterday and we’ll have them until sine die. That’s why I love the Texas House.”
He was then asked if the point of order — which hinged on a cleverly crafted provision in the housekeeping resolution, adopted before the rules were considered, that prohibited the use of House resources for “political purposes” — saved certain members from “having to take tough votes” on the array of amendments.
“We’re used to those types, those happen every session,” Phelan said. “I know where my members are on all these issues. It’s pretty public who’s where, so I’m very happy the way it turned out yesterday. It was a good day for the House.”
• Texas speaker criticized for blocking amendments, appointing Democratic chairs, The Center Square, 12 January 2022, Excerpts: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is facing criticism from conservatives for blocking amendments to House rules that would have prevented him from appointing Democrats to committee chairs.
Republican voters have overwhelming voted against a process by which the Republican House speaker appoints Democrats as committee chairs. Banning the process is a key priority of the Republican Party of Texas.
Under Phelan’s leadership during the last legislative session, some of the most progressive Democrats were appointed chairs. They in turn blocked conservative bills from being considered. Elected Democrats also absconded to Washington, D.C., in the middle of session, protesting an election reform bill. Their actions cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5 million.
Gov. Greg Abbott called for their arrest, although none were ever arrested. Upon their return, Democrats successfully amended the election integrity bill, which Republicans passed and Abbott signed into law, weakening pre-existing law by lowering the charge for illegal voting from a felony to a Class A misdemeanor.
Phelan “and his allies moved successfully Wednesday to prevent the matter [Slaton’s amendment] from even getting to a vote on the floor,” The Texas Tribune reported. “They did it by passing a ‘housekeeping resolution’ earlier in the day that included a new section codifying a constitutional ban on using House resources for political purposes.”
Editorial Note: One of the more contentious issues in the 88th Texas Legislative Session for the Republican controlled Texas House will be assigning Democrats to important House Chair Positions. The contention however is not between the two parties, but within the Republican Party itself. The Republican Caucus in the Texas House of Representatives expanded to 86 (from 82 in the 87th TX House) of the 150 (57%) house members. (Legislative Reference Library of Texas)
During the March 2022 primaries, Republican voters were presented with a series of statements with which they could agree or disagree, including: “The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature should end the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats.” The result was 81 percent of Republican voters calling for an end to the practice.
• Fight Over Democrats as Texas Committee Chairs Will Come to a Head in House Rules Debate, The Texan, 11 January 2023, Excerpts. For nearly 600 days, a fight has been brewing in the Texas House. It’s not concerning specific legislation, but may hold substantial implications over those bills that will soon take the spotlight: the appointment of Democrats as committee chairs. The Texas House will consider its rules for the 88th Legislative Session on Wednesday, during which the body will debate a couple of votes on prohibiting or restricting the appointment of Democrats as committee chairs. / Last session, efforts to ban or curtail the appointment of Democrats as committee chairs failed by large margins.
• Texas Senate Gavels In. Will this session be conservative or “productive?” Texas Scorecard, 10 January, 2023, Excerpt. Historically considered the more conservative chamber of the Texas Legislature, the Senate moved even further to the right during the 2022 election cycle with a 19-12 Republican majority. With the House expected to debate the merits of awarding valuable committee chairmanships to Democrats later this week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who serves as president of the Senate and determines committee appointments, has said that only one Democrat will chair a committee in the Senate this cycle.
• Phelan Hits Back on Democratic Chairs, The Texan, 30 December 2022, Excerpts. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) has faced his fair share of flack from his right flank on the issue of Democratic committee chairs. Phelan appointed 13 Democrats as committee chairs last session and is keen on doing so again.
This position has drawn criticism from the Texas GOP, which has made opposing Democratic committee chairs a top priority, and is even the inspiration for state Rep. Tony Tinderholt’s longshot challenge to Phelan’s speakership.
• Republican House Members on Democrat Committee Chairs, Texas Scorecard, 17 November 2022, Excerpts. With voters having expanded the Republican Caucus in the Texas House to 86 of 150 members, more Texans are questioning the practice of allowing Democrats to chair legislative committees. Democrat committee chairmen have a history of killing conservative legislation in Texas. Now, the Texas GOP has made banning Democrat chairs in the Texas House and Senate a legislative priority for 2023.
• Republicans debate giving power to Democrats in the Legislature, The Kerrville Daily Times, 07 November 2022, Excerpts.
With the impending legislative session, Republicans are debating whether to support a next speaker of the House who potentially gives Democrats the power to kill legislation.
It’s been the tradition for Democrats and Republicans to grant the opposing party some committee chairmanships, and both candidates for Texas House District 53 appear to be willing to continue the practice.
Phelan recently championed the practice in statements to Republican conventiongoers in June.
“In my lifetime, Democrats, when they were in control, they gave Republicans chairs,” Phelan said. “And ever since I’ve been around, Republicans have given (Democrats chairmanships) proportionate to the makeup in the House.”
Phelan cited James Earl "Pete" Laney, who served as House speaker until 2003, as a Democrat who let Republicans have some chairmanships.
The issue was among the top eight Republican Party priorities that were chosen by over 5,000 voting delegates at the Texas State Republican Convention in June. Delegates were presented with a list of 15 topics selected by the Legislative Priorities Committee after a comprehensive review of resolutions passed at the precinct and senate district levels of the convention process. Delegates were allowed to vote on eight topics, which became the official Legislative Priorities of the Republican Party of Texas. In the March primary election, more than 81% of Republican voters statewide and 89.58% of Kerr County GOP voters supported ending the practice of letting Democrats chair House committees.
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