Table Of Content
- U.S. Congress
- By tradition, the minority party gets to chair some Texas House committees. Some in the GOP want to end that.
- Border security overpowers school vouchers and Paxton impeachment in Republican Texas House primaries
- List of current representatives
- House approves aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

There was not a reapportionment after the 1920 United States census. Go Bill Search and choose a recent legislative session to get a list of subjects. You can also search for bills by a representative's name, by committee or by a word or phrase in the text of the bill. The Texas House of Representatives is composed of 150 members, each elected for a two-year term.
U.S. Congress
School vouchers: How the Texas House voted - The Texas Tribune
School vouchers: How the Texas House voted.
Posted: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
But lawmakers voted 311 to 112 with one member voting present to approve the aid, despite the steep pushback from some House conservatives. In a speech to the Senate, Abbott expressed unprecedented anticipation for the session to begin, saying lawmakers had a “once in a generation” opportunity to chart the course for the state because of its budget surplus. Phil King, a longtime Republican state representative from Weatherford, replaced her as the senator for District 10 in North Texas. A 47-year-old financial broker, Phelan was first elected two years ago.
By tradition, the minority party gets to chair some Texas House committees. Some in the GOP want to end that.
All bills for raising revenue considered by the legislature must originate in the house of representatives. The house alone can bring impeachment charges against a statewide officer, which charges must be tried by the senate. Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states.
Border security overpowers school vouchers and Paxton impeachment in Republican Texas House primaries
The unofficial leaders are the Republican Caucus Chairman and the Democratic House Leader, both of whom are elected by their respective caucuses. As a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization, The Texas Tribune exists to make sense of the impact Texas politics and policy have on people's lives – including changes caused by redistricting. And to stay up to date with the most essential Texas news, sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter. It was introduced earlier this month by a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers.
Committee structure
Those changes mean Republicans have increased their majority in the chamber by one, with 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats to start Tuesday’s session. Phelan guided the House through the 2021 legislative sessions, which some observers called “the most conservative” in state history. Lawmakers passed new laws banning almost all abortions and allowing permitless carry of handguns. Johnson said earlier this week that if he hadn't moved forward with his plan, an effort to bypass him and force a vote on the Senate bill would have gained more support. House Democrats tried to use a rarely successful legislative maneuver known as a discharge petition to do just that, but are short of the 218 signatures needed. The package consists of four bills that were voted on separately and will be combined into one before being sent to the Senate.
List of current representatives

He replaced one-term speaker Dennis Bonnen, who retired after becoming embroiled in a secret recording scandal in 2019 in which he bashed members of his own party. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in an effort to reform how that chamber is run. He urged Texas House members to choose him as a similar agent of change. House Republicans who blocked McCarthy’s leadership for more than a dozen votes, grinding Congressional business to a halt for four days last week. At first, they were elected at-large, but starting in 1919 all were districted.
In debate, GOP candidates for Texas House special election mirror statewide intraparty tensions
For example, 1309 is on the third floor of the Longworth building. Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news. “I have never been as excited about a session as I am about this session,” he said. When members cast ballots, the only support for Tinderholt came from the two members who nominated him. All of the members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus appeared to back Phelan; the group has not yet released its roster for this session.
House approves aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
As presiding officer, the speaker maintains order during floor debate, recognizing legislators who wish to speak and ruling on procedural matters. The constitution also requires the speaker to sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the legislature. As a member of the house of representatives, the speaker may vote on all questions before the house. The Texas Senate’s 31 seats are currently divided among 18 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
to 1893: 11 seats
Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland represented a notable new “no” vote among Democrats, and other standouts included Representatives Donald S. Beyer Jr. of Virginia, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and John Garamendi of California. In his nominating speech for Tinderholt, Slaton said the tradition in the House of selecting some minority party members — in Texas, Democrats — for committee chair positions is an overly generous “consolation prize” for losing an election. He said Phelan’s adherence to that tradition means Republicans can pass only some conservative legislative priorities each session while ignoring others. Phelan said he would shepherd bills through the chamber that have the support of a majority of members while also ensuring that lawmakers from the minority party would have a meaningful voice.
The Texas Legislature is the lawmaking body of the State of Texas. It consists of two chambers, the house of representatives and the senate. The Texas Legislature convenes in regular session at noonon the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year for no more than 140 days.A special session, so designated because it must be called by the governor, may last no more than 30 days. The other duties and responsibilities of the speaker are determined by the members of the house in the House Rules of Procedure, which are adopted by a majority vote of the members at the beginning of each regular session of the legislature.
The House passed a long-stalled foreign aid package on Saturday that gives funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with a majority of lawmakers backing money for American allies across the globe. The package, which now goes to the Senate, is almost certain to become law. With Democrats vastly outnumbered and few procedural rules to slow the GOP agenda, Republican lawmakers will have relatively easy glide paths for their legislation during the session. Patrick has given a rough outline of his legislative priorities that include reducing property taxes, securing the border and increasing the resiliency of the electric grid by increasing the production of natural gas in the state. The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer and highest-ranking member of the House.
As a result of his move, Johnson could face a vote on his ouster in the coming weeks. The GOP speaker, however, has grown more willing to confront the threat from the right, and Democrats have suggested that they're willing to protect him from an ouster effort if he allowed a vote on Ukraine aid. All representatives serve until the end of the current Congress on Jan 3, 2025.
The plan, laid out in a rule that passed on Friday, was concocted to capitalize on the pools of support for each part of the $95 billion package, while preventing opposition to any one piece from taking down all of them. The Lieutenant Governor establishes committees, appoints members and chairpersons, and assigns all Senate legislation to the committee of his choice. Each state in the United States elects two senators, regardless of the state’s population. Americans in the United States’s six territories do not have senators. Patrick has warned that he would push the Legislature into a special session if additional work on the grid is not accomplished by the regular session’s end on May 29. Texas House of Representatives members on Tuesday voted to elect state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, to a second term as speaker — the most powerful position in the lower chamber.