Good morning!

The Texas Legislature convenes tomorrow in the 88th constitutionally defined regular session. Does your legislator know you are watching?

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, January 9, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

140 Days

• When lawmakers gavel in, it will be for 140 days, as set by the Texas Constitution (Article 3, Section 24). The regular session will conclude on May 29, 2023.
        
• Constitutionally, the first 30 days of a legislative session are reserved for the filing of legislation, and the next 30 days for committee hearings. Typically, legislation must be filed within the first 60 days of the session.
     
• Unless legislation is declared an "emergency" by the governor, it cannot be voted on within the first 60 days of the legislative session. For non-emergency matters, the first committee hearings could be on Feb. 9, 2023, though many won't happen until weeks later. 
      
• The first floor votes on bills (except those deemed an emergency by the governor) will not occur until March 11, 2023.

The Chambers

• The Texas Senate is headed by the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, in his constitutionally defined role as "president of the senate."
   
• Of the 31 state senators, 19 are Republicans and 12 are Democrats.

• Unlike the rules regarding the speakership of the U.S. House, the Texas Constitution requires the Texas House speaker to be elected from among the ranks of the chamber itself.
     
• Of the 150 House members, 86 are Republicans and 64 are Democrats.

Explaining The Deadlines

• In a special analysis for Texas Scorecard, Tony McDonald explains the deadlines that govern the fate of legislation – specifically the deadlines in the Texas House. He focuses on that chamber because "the deadlines imposed in the Texas House are of particular importance."

DEM Chairmen...

• The Republican Party of Texas, local GOP organizations, and grassroots groups are encouraging citizens to convoy to Austin on Thursday (1/12) with a simple message: "Ban DEM Chairs."  
    
• Thursday is when the rules of the Texas House are expected to be debated and voted on. A priority of the Republican Party is to end the practice of appointing Democrats to chair policy committees, despite the GOP having significant majorities in both chambers. The rules of the legislative process give committee chairs enormous power over the flow and makeup of legislation. 
            
• "We will fill the House gallery on January 12 to watch the rules debate and visit our Representatives’ offices to remind them of why we sent them to Austin," explains Jill Glover of the State Republican Executive Committee. She says many people are planning to arrive at the Capitol by 9 a.m. on Thursday.
     
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls the committees in the Senate, has said only one Democrat will chair a committee in 2023: Houston's John Whitmire overseeing criminal justice. Whitmire is the longest serving member of the Texas Senate.
      
• Incumbent House Speaker Dade Phelan and his cadre of House supporters have indicated they intend to continue appointing Democrats as committee chairs in the House. In the most recent legislative session, Democrats held 40 percent of the chairmanships in the House, including overseeing public education.

Your Legislators

• Texas Scorecard maintains a directory of elected officials.
     
• You will notice we do not provide the "official" email address for legislators. This is purposeful. Those email addresses are a form that every SPAM-bot on the planet knows. I do not recommend emailing your legislators unless you have their personal email address. Email from constituents is easy to miss... and even easier to ignore.
     
• I recommend communicating with your lawmakers in writing – a postcard or one-page letter on a single topic per mailing. And always ask for a response.
     
• Second best is a phone call to their Capitol office.
      
• Inserted at the bottom of almost every Texas Minute is a listing of your state and federal officials – but we can only provide that specific information if we have the address where you are registered to vote.
      
• If the directory below does not list the names of your U.S. House, Texas Senate, and Texas House members, follow this link to update your mailing address so we can include that information going forward.

Looking For Interns!

• We’re now taking applications for our Summer and Fall 2023 paid Texas Scorecard Fellowships designed for 18- to 25-year-olds with an interest in public policy, political accountability, and Texas history.
      
• The program offers three tracks: writing, research, and administration. Learn more on our website.

Support Texas Scorecard

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Directory Of Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts and names displayed here should reflect those taking representational effect on January 1, 2023.