All the schmoozing and strategizing involved in seeking the job of Texas House Speaker is worth it come February, when the leader of the lower chamber gets to choose the chairmen of committees, who have the power to stop, slow or speed legislation through the process.
Last session, Republicans held just over two-thirds of the chairmanships in a House that was almost evenly divided along party lines. But this session has a much greater Republican majority — a supermajority, in fact — leaving open questions about who will get which choice slots. Adding to the uncertainly is planned or unplanned attrition: A close look at the 34 standing committees from the 2009 session reveals that more than a quarter of the chairmen won’t be returning, having retired or lost their reelection bids.
Click the filters on this interactive table to see what the chairmanships looked like in 2009 and who’s coming back to the House in 2011. You may also filter the list by party.
In the U.S. Congress, the caucus of the majority party selects chairmen. In the Texas House, the Speaker has unilateral power to decide who will head committees.
Chairmen play a major role in shaping, passing or killing legislation. There are no rules governing how they’re chosen, but speakers typically pick members with strengths in relevant issue areas. By tradition, at least a few members of the opposing party are given chairmanships each session.
While the House was nearly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats in 2009, Speaker Joe Straus showed a preference for Republican chairs on more than two out of every three standing committees. Democrats were additionally named to chair subcommittees and select panels.
Straus’ opponents complain that his Republican chairs in 2009 were largely moderate — an argument that is fueling the challenge to the Speaker’s reelection.
The 2011 Returning Members
Republicans are riding their electoral wave into the 2011 session, with a supermajority unseen since Reconstruction. When it’s time to choose chairs, whoever is speaker will feel pressure to pick not just more Republicans, but more conservative chairmen — though how that distinction is defined depends on whom you ask.
If someone other than Straus is Speaker, all chairmen could be Republicans. Grassroots groups pushing for his ouster have suggested the Speaker should put only GOP lawmakers in charge of committees.
Republicans
A rift in the Republican ranks has opened between supporters of the incumbent speaker, Joe Straus, and his loudest opponents, who paint him as too moderate. The conservatives have thrown their backing behind state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, or state Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney.
Paxton, Chisum and their ilk have been reminding members, especially newly elected members, that Straus swept into the Speaker’s office with the help of 65 Democrats and just 11 Republicans. Nonetheless, as of this writing, Straus appears to have the votes of enough Republicans in the House to be re-elected. Even if he keeps the job, however, the pressure on him to choose more GOP chairmen remains.
Democrats
Democrats argue that the allocation of chairmanships should mirror the makeup of the House. Since they still have about one-third of the 150 House seats, they believe, they should chair one-third of the committees
Ever the diplomat, Straus will probably keep retain some of his Democratic chairs — especially those with seniority like state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. But there’s no guarantee they’ll have as many chairmen as they did last session, when they had 26 more members. And if a more rightward-leaning speaker is elected, all bets are off.
