81st Legislature: A Close Look At Speaker Straus’ Committee Assignments

While the “Gang of 11″ Republicans that helped oust former Speaker Tom Craddick came out with prize plum committee assignments under new House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), Democrats got little from the chamber’s new leader in spite of making up the vast majority of the coalition propelling him to frontrunner status in the Speaker’s Race before most Republicans were willing to give him a second look.

Each one of the “Gang of 11″ members got significant committee chairmanships. State Rep. Tommy Merritt (R-Longview) was named Chair of the Public Safety Committee; State Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) was given the chairmanship of Appropriations; Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands) was given the chairmanship of Public Education; Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) was given the chairmanship of Environmental Regulation; State Rep. Edmund Kuempel (R-Seguin) was given the chairmanship of Licensing and Administrative Procedures; Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) was given the chairmanship of theEnergy Resources Committee; State Rep. Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton) was given the chairmanship of State Affairs; Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano) was given the chairmanship of Calenders, and state Rep. Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock) was given the chairmanship of the Committee on Redistricting.

While Jones’ position is the one of those chairmanships worth the least (at least, in this session) every one of the “gang of 11″ got chairmanships. The Chairmanships of the chamber’s most powerful and important committees, in fact, all went to Gang of 11 members.

Democrats that were key to Straus’ victory, however, got far less. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), who was believed to be in line to be named Speaker Pro Tem was relegated to Vice Chair of Licensing and Regulation and the Chairmanship of Local & Consent Calendars.

Of those Democrats given chairmanships most were of minor committees, and the vast majority of Chairmanships given to Democratic members weren’t given to the House’s most powerful or senior Democrats.

Let’s take a look at the committees piece by piece.

Agriculture & Livestock. Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles (D-Alice) was given the chairmanship of this committee. It is a good fit for her district, yes, but it was also a way for Straus to give a committee chairmanship to a Democrat without inflaming the right of his party, given that A&L is typically not the powerhouse it was in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Appropriations. Pitts returns to reprise a chairmanship role Craddick stripped him of. Former chair Warren Chisum is banished from the Committee, however. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) got the vice chaimanship previously held by Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City) who also is no longer on the committee. As a result of seniority, there is an odd mix of former Craddick D’s on the committee: Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin), Al Edwards (D-Houston), Kino Flores (D-Mission) along with other Democrats Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) and Helen Giddings (D-DeSoto) and Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio). The “Speaker Appointments” to the committee are beyond puzzling. State Rep. Ellen Cohen (D-Houston) got on the committee as did State Rep. Able Herrero (D-Robstown) and Craig Eiland (D-Beaumont). The most senior Democrat among the speker appointments was Scott Hochberg (D-Houston). The most odd appointment of all is that of Angie Chen Button (R-Garland), who was one of the candidates who pledged to Craddick very early in the 2008 election cycle, took money from a lot of rightwing donors and kept up her support for Craddick. Perhaps her appointment to this committee is a sacrifice to the ultraconservative wing of his party by Speaker Straus. A full 40.74 percent of the committee seats on Appropriations are held by minorities (African Americans, Latinos, or Asian Americans). That is up from last session.

Border & Intergovernmental Affairs. Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen) gains another committee seat for Dems, albeit a minor committee. The vice chair for this one is an enigma: State Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van). Not only was Flynn a die hard, down to the last-second Craddick supporter, he’s far more suited to a financially related comittee because of his background in the banking industry and as former Texas Department of Banking employee.The committee is mainly made up of border-region state representatives save Dora Olivo (D-Richmond); Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth), and David Leibowitz (D-San Antonio). The Committee is also predominantly Democratic.

Business and Industry.  Another chairmanship for Democrats, this one going to Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont). Now that Economic Development (the committee Deshotel formerly chaired) is gone, I guess this is where he ended up. It also looks like this committee is where Straus “back benched” some former Craddick supporters and others he had reason to give hell. Kirk England (D-Grand Prairie), a former Appropriations Committee member who left the Republican Party after the 80th Legislature is here as is former Craddick ally Wayne Christian (R-Center). Former Speaker Pro Tem Sylvester Turner also landed here. Dan Gattis (R-Georgetown), who had a brief flirtation with the Speakership and probably cost Straus an earlier solidification of his support, got stuck here, too.

Calendars: This one, as we noted, is chaired by McCall. Eddie Lucio III, (D-Brownsville), who ditched Craddick in the 80th Session is vice chair. Norma Chavez (D-El Pas0) returns to the committee, but not in a leadership role. This committee may be where Straus made a half-hearted attempt to reward some Democrats who helped him: Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) and Jim McReynolds (D-Lufkin) are both here as are GOP allies like Byron Cook (R-Corsicana), Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) and Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton).

Corrections. Jim McReynolds gets another chairmanship for the D’s, ousting State Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano) who got high marks for his performance in the 80th session of the Texas Legislature. He is vice chair, though. Harold Dutton gets on this committee by Speaker Appointment. Terri Hodge (D-Dallas) and Kirk England, two Democrats land here in seniority appointments.

County Affairs. We are exceedingly puzzled by this committee. State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) is chair. We fully expected Coleman to get a more significant chairmanship. While there is nothing wrong with County Affairs, (you can look at the bills they considered last session here), and Coleman served on the committee last year and would do a fabulous job with any chairmanship he received, we had just held out some hope that the Speaker would give one of the House’s best and most progressive senior members jurisdiction over a committee that considers matters a bit more weighty a county’s ability to regulate roosters and outdoor lighting (that’s not a slam at county affairs, either; those and the many other issues the committee tackles are vital to government functions). Leo Berman (R-Tyler), no ally of Straus, was assigned here, as was State Rep. John Davis (R-Clear Lake). The whole committee is just an odd mixed bag.

Criminal Jurisprudence. State Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine) gets the chairmanship here. Again, it’s a puzzlement, and so is much of the committee. Two Freshmen got seniority appointments to the committee: Robert Miklos (D-Mesquite) and Joe Moody (D-El Paso).

Culture, Recreation, & Tourism. Here is one of the few Democratic Committee Chairmanships that makes sense: Mark Homer (D-Paris) as chair. His district actually has quite a number of state parks and attractions in it and tourism is important to the district’s economy. The rest of the committee is again a mixed bag that makes one scratch one’s head and wonder if Straus cast lots or flipped coins to make the assignments.

Defense & Veterans’ Affairs. Here, Straus gives a chairmanship to one of the House’s most radical of right-wing members: Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), who abandoned his chairmanship of the House GOP Caucus most likely so he wasn’t frequently quoted in the San Antonio press as calling Straus a silk-stocking liberal. Corte held the chairmanship last session, too, but we’d expected to see him removed.

Elections. Once again, the Elections Committee is a complete and unmitigated disaster for Democrats. All of those Democrats who thought there was some kind of tacit agreement with Straus that voter ID wouldn’t get to the floor in the House probably looked at the makeup of this committee and had words not fit for a family newspaper come to mind. How bad is the makeup of the Elections Committee? Joe Straus has singlehandedly taken voter identification, wrapped it in a bow, put a gift tag on it, and sent it to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s desk to be signed. (Does anyone still think we’re better off with Straus????) How bad is it? Straus gave the one seniority appointment on the committee to the second biggest voter ID shill in the Texas House: State Rep. Betty Brown (R-Terrell). He also put on Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston), Linda Harper Brown (R-Irving), Todd Smith (R-Euless) as chair, and Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton). The Committee has a 5-4 makeup in favor of the Republicans, and Straus was sly enough to appoint one Democrat who is vulnerable to Republicans in a general election in an ultraconservative district on the issue of Voter ID to the committee in case Democrats are able to flip a Republican: Rep. Joe Heflin (R-Crosbytown). Ten bucks says every ounce of raido time in his district will be bought up by the Republican Party of Texas to promote Voter ID 72 hours before the committee ever gets to consider a voter ID bill. If Heflin votes against a voter ID measure in committee, it will give the GOP ammunition to get opponents salivating for a generation and guarantee that Heflin won’t have an uncontested election in the next decade. Straus crafted this committee just the way the rightwing of his party wanted. First, Dewhurst dumped the “two-thirds” rule in the Senate, and the Straus stacks the deck on the Elections Committee. The only place to win this one now is on the floor, and let’s just say that with Republicans newly emboldened on the issue, it will be a long shot.

Energy Resources: Craddick landed here as a Speaker appointment. Jim Keffer chairs it, Myra Crownover is vice chair. It is an interesting mix, and not terribly pro-consumer, save Democrats Farabee, Gonzalez Toureilles, Strama, and, we would asume (and hope), Rios Ybarra.

Environmental Regulation. Here is where Chisum landed with a vice chairmanship. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) and Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) landed here, too, along with Farrar (D-Houston) and Veasey (D-Fort Worth). Still, D’s don’t have enough votes to push out any significant legislation, and one must wonder why Burnam wasn’t vice chair and why Dunnam didn’t get a better position on this or any other committee.

General Investigating and Ethics. Here is another Democratic Chairmanship, Chuck Hopson (D-Jacksonville). Don’t get too excited, though. This commitee handled zero bills last year and mainly handles internal House business. It met a grand total of twice last session, and one of those sessions was Executive, another was a joint session with another committee to take testimony on the Houston Crime Lab.

Higher Education. The hapless Geanie Morrison (R-Denton) was replaced with Dan Branch (R-Dallas), who isn’t exactly a hand-and-hand friend of progressive education causes. Leo Berman also got on this committee, and that gives him the ability to push his anti-immigrant agenda as it applies to higher education.

House Administration. Charlie Geren is here as Chair, and that is a good thing.

Human Services. Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs) reprises his chairmanship. It is one of the few significant chairmanships for Democrats. Freshman Armando Walle (D-Houston) scored a good spot on this committee. And, D’s are lucky to have Naishtat back, too.

Insurance. John Smithee is chair. Senfronia Thompson managed to land here with a Speaker’s appointment. Trey Martinez Fischer is vice chair.

Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) as vice chair is a puzzlement, because he doesn’t have much seniority and because he was a post-80th Session convert to the Craddick camp and was even caught on camera on his way to the “Last Supper” with Craddick.

Land And Resource Management. We’re not at all sure what giving Bonnen (R-Angleton) the chairmanship of a committee where a lot of eminent domain bills go means, but I’m sure we’ll soon find out. Farrar ended up here as Vice Chair.

Licensing and Administrative Procedure. Here, we find part of Straus’ great, big “thank you” to Senfronia Thompson for helping make him Speaker: vice chair of Licensing and Administrative Procedure. It is just an odd match for the woman who should be Speaker Pro Tem.

Local & Consent Calendars: Here, Senfronia Thompson is named Chairwoman. I don’t know why, but I just feel her talents would have been so much better utilized as chair of one of the other committees.

Natural Resources: This is perhaps the second most “oddball” mix of appointments on the list. Ritter (D-Nederland) is chair.

Pensions, Investments & Financial Services. Vicki Truitt ended up as chair. Again. Anciha replaces Villarreal as Vice Chair.

Public Education. The bright spot here is Hochberg as Chair, although is Straus really meant something about using the talents of members and hadn’t really intended to play petty politics, he’d have named Hochberg Chair of the committee since he knows more about public ed than any other member of the House.

Public Health. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), who waffled back and forth between running for speaker herself and supporting Dan Gattis and Straus gets put in charge of the committee that gets legislation regulating laser hair removal facilities and type 2 Diabetes legislation. Basically, Straus has just named her the House Director of Rick Perry’s This-Is-So-2002-But-I’m-Doing-it-anyway-because-my-pollster-says-it-will-win-middle-class-women-over-40 War On Childhood Obesity. Congratulations, Rep. Kolkhorst!

Public Safety, Rules and Resolutions, and Redistricting are what you’d expect.

State Affairs. An interesting one. Craddick, Gallego, and Sylvester Turner are on there, among others including Eddie Lucio III and Diana Maldonado.

Technology, Economic Development & Workforce Affairs. Strama (D-Austin) chairs this one, and it is one of the few D chairmanships that looks on paper like a good fit.

Transporation. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) is chair. It is the most significant chairmanship given to a Democrat. Dunnam also landed a seat here.

Urban Affairs. Democrat Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas) will head a committee with a grand total of six (out of 11) freshmen.

Ways and Means. Rene Olivera (D-Brownsville) captured a seat here; Phil King also wandered over to this committee after being de-chaired.

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