The race for Speaker of the Texas House has concluded.

For the first time in my memory, there was an actual contested vote for the position of Speaker of the Texas House on the floor of the Texas House. In my experience, most Speaker’s races occur in back rooms, side rooms, downstairs rooms, private rooms, etc. This one was in full view with winners and losers being self-evident—to everyone.

After the vote there was a mad scramble to get the printed tally sheets for future reference. Some parties may still be looking for bill authors.

Having watched quite a few Speaker elections (every session for more sessions than I want to admit), the number of times someone has actually registered a vote against a Speaker is a number I can count on one hand. In this case, there were 52 registered votes against the Speaker, and this was after it was painfully obvious what was going to happen. It’s something worth thinking about.

If there are forces outside of the Texas House chamber supporting the losing side in this race, then those forces lost, and they lost for everyone to see. Potential promised retribution aimed at those supporting the winner (Speaker Burrows) were weighed and found to be wanting or only something to worry about 11 months from now at the beginning of 2026 primary season. (Yes, I am already referencing the next election cycle.) Next year almost everyone is on the ballot, all statewide office holders, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, all congressmen, half of the Texas Senate, and all Texas House members.

Talk about expensive.

I congratulated Speaker Burrows via text message. (He “liked” it—the miracles of modern technology.)

What happens now? The session will actually get started, although let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. On Friday the Lt. Governor named the membership of the Senate committees. In past sessions, the Lt. Governor has often named the committees even before the session begins, but not this time. Now that the Senate Committees have been named, expect the Senate to begin referring bills and hearings to begin quickly. The House on the other hand always takes a bit longer. Speaker Burrows announced that he will begin meeting with members on Thursday (Jan. 16) to listen to their wants and desires for the session. It is assumed that several members who served as chairs under Speaker Phelan will also be in leadership positions under the new Speaker. It never works out exactly how those of us on the outside predict, but it is safe to say that those who supported the winning side in the Speaker’s race probably reap the benefits. Rumor is that the Speaker will attempt to make committee assignments at a record pace and be done by the end of January. (That would be really fast.) Regardless, once the committees have been announced, the House will refer bills and House hearings will commence.

As a side note, the House had 34 standing committees last session, and Speaker Burrows received 36 Republican votes for Speaker. Some of those votes were from freshmen, and let’s just say some votes were from inexperienced returning members. Running a committee is a complicated undertaking in even the best of circumstances. If there are to be no Democrats named as chairs, the seating arrangements become quite the puzzle.

Referring of bills is when the session really begins. There is a rule that nothing can pass within the first 60 days other than items determined to be an emergency by the Governor, which he must declare through a proclamation. The regular session lasts 140 days total, take away the first 60 and the last 21 days, which by rule automatically whittle down the number of bills being considered, and the opportunity to actually pass something is very narrow. All things considered, there are potentially 10 meaningful committee hearings in each chamber where a bill has an opportunity to be considered. A bill must be:

  • introduced,
  • referred to committee,
  • scheduled for a hearing,
  • heard and considered in public hearing,
  • voted out of committee by a majority of members present,
  • (House) referred and considered in the Calendars Committee,
  • voted successfully out of Calendars Committee,
  • (Senate) referred to the Senate as a whole and put on the Intent Calendar (as determined by the Lt. Governor),
  • considered on the floor in the respective chamber where the bill was introduced,
  • favorably voted out of the respective chamber where introduced,
  • sent to the opposite chamber and begin the process again,
  • sent to the Governor, and
  • be signed, vetoed, allowed to become law without signature.

That is why out of the approximately 8,500 bills introduced only about 15%–16% actually become law. As a taxpayer that is probably a good thing. We don’t need a bunch of new laws that change everything every 2 years. As a professional advocate I just hope my bills are in that 15%–16%. From that perspective, that number seems painfully small.

The stage is set, the audience is in attendance, the curtain is rising. Let the show begin.

—TWGGA Legislative Advocate Kyle Frazier