Texas House bans Democrats as committee chairs

AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports that theTexas House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to ban Democrats from holding powerful committee chairmanships, answering years of mounting pressure from leadership and grassroots conservatives to chip away at the power of the minority party in the Capitol. The new House rules also reserved all vice-chair positions on legislative committees for Democrats — a sticking point with some conservatives but a clear concession to the minority party, which for the first time in modern history will not be part of the speaker’s leadership team. “We were elected with 150 people representing the state of Texas,” said Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, who helped write the new rules. “So our role is: Let’s get something done, and let’s not forget that we’ve got the main issues that we got to tackle.” Some Democrats lamented the loss of power for the minority party. Even so, most voted for the rules, glad for the opportunity to continue influencing the path of legislation.

“The people of Texas should be really proud of the Democrats that stood strong and have a lot to bring home today because of the positions and the powers that were gained through vice-chairmanships,” said Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth. “They’re not chairmanships, but we have a great role to play and we’re ready to play it.” The vote on the rules governing the House for the rest of the legislative session is typically a brisk battle over sensitive issues, and Thursday’s debate was teed up for fights over whether Democrats should lead committees, which bills should be given priority, and the proper protocol for bucking the authority of the powerful speaker’s office. Instead, more than two-thirds of the House, including members from both parties, turned the tables and halted debate after less than an hour of discussion — then overwhelmingly passed the new rules on a 116-23 vote. At stake in the fight were the levers of power in a chamber that recently emerged from a bruising intraparty clash to determine who would lead the GOP-dominated House.