GOP Speaker Says House Will Steer Agenda
in Austin Where the Senate Had Way in 2023
Capitol Inside
August 29, 2024
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Dade Phelan |
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Todd Hunter |
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Drew Darby |
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David Cook |
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Brad Buckley |
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James Frank |
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Tom Oliverson |
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Shelby Slawson |
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Cody Harris |
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Briscoe Cain |
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GOP Speaker Dade Phelan fired the opening shot in a battle that's shaping up in Austin when he suggested on Wednesday that the Texas House would call the shots when lawmakers meet in regular session next year.
The second-term House leader set the stage for bicameral warfare in a synopsis of a staff meeting that he conducted with Mike Toomey just days after enlisting the powerful lobbyist as his new chief of staff. Phelan portrayed the employee gathering as the first step in a "new chapter of leadership" that he envisions with the benefit of Toomey's wisdom, expertise and guidance.
Phelan directed staff members to "accelerate engagement" with House members for ideas and input with job creation, economic development, state spending cutbacks, education funding and school choice as "overarching policy themes" he wants colleagues to pursue in 2025.
The speaker stressed the need for a collaborative process that includes Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Texas Senate members. But Phelan made it clear that he expects the House to take the lead in the session that begins in January.
"Speaker Phelan emphasized that the session’s agenda will ultimately be driven by House members, with his personal priorities being shaped in part by the feedback and perspectives shared with the office," according to a statement from his office.
Phelan "concluded by emphasizing the unique opportunity to once again position the Texas House as the driving force behind smart, fiscally conservative policies that will shape the future of Texas,"
the speaker's office added.
Patrick actually created and fashioned the Legislature's agenda
in 2023 - especially on the dominating issue of property tax cuts after the GOP-controlled House capitulated after a long standoff and met most of the Senate president's demands in special session. The House arguably had its most substantial impact last year when moderate Republicans teamed up with Democrats to kill Abbott's coveted private school vouchers bill.
Phelan tried to stay out of the school choice battle so the House could work its will on the governor's signature priority. The Republicans have been trying and failing to pass a vouchers plan since the GOP seized the majority in the west wing of the statehouse in 2003 for the first time since Reconstruction. After barely surviving a challenge from the right with a primary runoff win in May, Phelan apparently plans to come off the sidelines on school choice if he's re-elected for a third term as speaker.
But Phelan said nothing in the new gameplan about speculation that he hired Toomey to help him keep the gavel as the consensus Republican Caucus choice for the leadership post without the need for Democrats. Phelan has indicated that he hopes to be his party's official or speaker next year with at least 76 votes in the GOP before the election on the floor.
But that could be an all but impossible challenge given the bitter feelings that conservative colleagues and incoming House members harbor for him after almost four years in a job that he depended on Democrats to win and to keep. At least four House Republicans who'll be back in 2025 have derided Phelan at every opportunity - and they will have 15 new colleagues or more in their ranks as rookie representatives who promised to oppose the incumbent speaker with votes that they cast on opening day.
In the event that the major parties break even on the House battlefield this fall, a GOP contender for speaker would only need 14
Republican votes to claim the post if they had all 62 Democrats in their camp. Democrats have a chance to pick up several House seats in November if Kamala Harris has coattails in the fight for president against Donald Trump. The number of Republicans a candidate for speaker would need would go down in direct relation to gains that Democrats post in House races at the polls this year.
The only realistic path that Phelan appears to have to victory at this point is the same course that he followed to the pinnacle of power in the west wing in 2021 and 2023. But Phelan has run the risk of fracturing an ever-fragile coalition with Democrats by appearing to go along with a push to ban members of the minority party from chairing committees in the House. The speaker may have also hurt his stock with Democrats by attempting to cozy up to Donald Trump after the former president tried to destroy him in a hometown re-election race earlier this year.
Toomey's paramount challenge outside of policy matters may be the task of building support for Phelan among fellow Republicans with the stated goal of a unified caucus vote. But the new Phelan staff chief also is capable of showing the speaker how to win with Democrats if a caucus consensus nomination is a longshot at best.
Phelan remains in the top spot on the Capitol Inside Texas House Speaker Race rankings for 2025 based on the simple arithmetic and the perks of incumbency that he enjoys as the key to keeping a sufficient number of Republicans on board for a bipartisan alliance. But any House Republican would be the favorite for speaker if they had a unanimous show of support from the Democrats in a chamber where a unified GOP isn't likely.
The six highest-ranked House members in the speaker competition size-up all could have shots at courting Democrats if Phelan lets them slip away.
The only two Republicans who've announced plans to challenge Phelan - State Reps. Tom Oliverson of Cypress and Shelley Slawson of Stephenville - have slipped to the 7th and 8th spots in the rankings of candidates and potential contenders due to plans to seek the post without the need for Democrats.
Phelan said he wants GOP State Rep. Brad Buckley of Salado to work closely with the governor and lawmakers from both chambers as the Public Education Committee chairman in the development of a school choice and funding measure. Buckley is an example of a House Republican who could have something to lose if Phelan is replaced in the dais by another GOP colleague. Current chairs on the Phelan team could find leadership positions in jeopardy with a different Republican at the helm of the lower chamber.
Here is the statement from the speaker's office:
Speaker Dade Phelan Holds All-Staff Meeting, Sets the Stage for New Chapter of Leadership
AUSTIN, Texas – This week, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and his newly appointed Chief of Staff, Mike Toomey, convened a meeting with the staff of the Office of the Speaker to set the direction for this new chapter of leadership and to highlight the major themes and priorities that will guide the office as it prepares for the upcoming legislative session.
Key points from the meeting include:
New Leadership and Direction:
- Speaker Phelan welcomed Toomey as the new Chief of Staff, emphasizing his confidence in Toomey’s ability to lead the office effectively during this crucial period.
- Speaker Phelan issued a directive to staff to spend the months leading up to the legislative session collaborating with and sourcing policy ideas from various internal and external sources, with an emphasis on putting fiscally responsible and robust conservative ideas into motion.
Commitment to Policy Development:
- Staff were directed to accelerate engagement with all House members, actively solicit bill ideas and begin the groundwork for potential legislation, effective immediately.
- Staff were encouraged to adopt an inclusive approach to gathering policy input from additional external sources, including legislative advocacy groups such as the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), policy think tanks and successful legislation from other states.
- Collaboration with the Office of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Texas Senate was emphasized as a critical component for developing impactful policy solutions, including reviewing the Senate’s interim charges to identify opportunities to build consensus.
- Speaker Phelan emphasized that the session’s agenda will ultimately be driven by House members, with his personal priorities being shaped in part by the feedback and perspectives shared with the office.
Policy Themes and Priorities:
- In the meeting, Speaker Phelan outlined overarching policy themes that will inform his personal priorities and guide the administration through the upcoming legislative session, including:
o Job Creation and Economic Development: Focus on initiatives, especially in rural areas, to spur job growth and economic progress and reshore operations that have been outsourced to other nations.
o Fiscal Conservatism and Budget Scrutiny: Emphasis on reducing the size and scope of government, prioritizing spending and cutting waste, and focusing resources on the Texans most in need.
o Improving Education: A strong focus on school choice and education funding, with close collaboration planned with Governor Abbott, the Texas Senate, House members and Chairman Brad Buckley of the House Public Education Committee.
- The Speaker’s staff will work in the coming months to finetune his legislative priorities and assist with developing legislation in accordance with these guiding principles.
Closing Remarks:
- Speaker Phelan concluded by emphasizing the unique opportunity to once again position the Texas House as the driving force behind smart, fiscally conservative policies that will shape the future of Texas.
- Staff was directed to begin their outreach immediately, inviting all those with policy ideas to the table and transforming input into action wherever possible.
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