Major changes are taking place in the Texas House as committee assignments were released by Speaker Dade Phelan on Thursday afternoon.
In the biggest committees, where most Republican priorities are slated to go, chairmanships were changed drastically.
State Affairs, the committee that generally acts as a magnet for high-profile bills and was previously chaired by Phelan, will now be headed by State Rep. Chris Paddie (R–Marshall).
State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock), who was forced to step down from his position as head of the House Republican Caucus after his role in the scandal surrounding disgraced former Speaker Dennis Bonnen in 2019, will now chair the powerful House Calendars Committee. That committee acts as a gatekeeper for which legislation will ultimately be voted on by the members at large.
Taking Burrows’ previous position as Chair of Ways and Means is Dallas Republican State Rep. Morgan Meyer.
A major change also came in the Redistricting Committee, which is tasked with drawing legislative maps. Formerly chaired by State Rep. Phil King (R–Weatherford), the committee will now be chaired by State Rep. Todd Hunter (R–Corpus Christi).
More than one-third of the committees will be chaired by Democrats, including the Public Education Committee, which will be chaired by State Rep. Harold Dutton (Houston), and the Business and Industry Committee, which will be chaired by State Rep. Chris Turner (Grand Prairie).
Turner also leads the House Democrat Caucus.
Another surprise happened in Appropriations, the chamber’s budget-writing committee. State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R–Southlake), who was given the chairmanship during the interim, had it taken away. State Rep. Greg Bonnen (R–Friendswood) will now chair the committee.
Democrat State Rep. Joe Moody (El Paso) was once again appointed as speaker pro tempore.
Appointments by committee:
Appointments by member:
