At noon on January 12, the Texas House and the Texas Senate gaveled in the start of the 87th Texas Legislature. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick opened the Senate and Secretary of State Ruth Ruggero Hughs opened the House. The first order of business in the House was the election of a new Speaker of the House made necessary because the previous Speaker did not run for reelection. The House almost unanimously elected Chairman Dade Phelan of Beaumont. The Speaker is the leader of the House and will be responsible for selecting committee chairs and assigning members to committees, which is said to be delayed until late January or early February. The Lt. Governor released his assignments today.
Yesterday, the Texas House unanimously adopted rules that will require members to wear masks in the chamber and during committee hearings and allow them to cast votes on legislation from outside the House floor. However, unlike the Senate, the House will not require testing for lawmakers as they meet during the coronavirus pandemic and did not expand its virtual testimony options to allow members of the public who have not been invited to testify to comment at committee hearings remotely.
The Senate opted to require testing before entering the upper chamber or attending a committee hearing. Senate staff must be tested the first day of the week they enter the Capitol and before accessing a hearing or the chamber. The House rules also authorized members to cast votes for legislation “from a secure portable device” if they are inside the chamber, in the gallery or “in an adjacent room or hallway on the same level as the House floor or gallery,” such as the speaker’s committee room or member lounge.
On Wednesday, senators also voted 18-3 to lower the threshold of support that legislation needs to make it onto the Senate floor. In previous sessions, the Senate required a 3/5 supermajority, or 19 votes, to bring legislation to the floor. But after Sen. Pete Flores was defeated, leaving only 18 Republicans in the Senate, Senators voted to lower that threshold.
More than 1,000 bills were pre-filed for the legislative session. Expect about 7,000 to be filed in total. As usual, the month of January will not have much legislative action. Count on your Chamber to closely monitor bills related to the Chamber’s 87th Legislative Agenda.
The Texas Legislature is made up of 31 State Senators and 151 House Representatives. Four State Senate Districts and Ten House Districts cover San Antonio and Bexar County. The Senate is led by Lt. Governor, Dan Patrick and the House is led by Speaker of The House, Rep. Dade Phelan.
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