Photo: Murat Taner
The last session of the Texas Legislature was, by all measures, a disaster for conservatives. Now, 13 Republican members are proposing a "Contract With Texas" in hopes of preventing a repeat of the 2023 session. The letter includes 12 reforms that any Republican running for the speakership in the Texas House must commit to:
- Only solicit support for Speakership from Republican members.
- End the practice of awarding Democrats with committee chairmanships.
- Ensure all GOP legislative priorities receive a floor vote before any Democrat bills.
- Replace the current liberal Parliamentarians with staff committed to only offering advice on adherence to House rules, not advancing their personal ideology.
- Limit the Speaker to two terms to reduce their power over individual members.
- Ensure there are no longer any Democrat-majority committees.
- Stop parliamentary abuse by requiring only substantial adherence to House rules to keep hyper-technical points of order from killing good legislation.
- Allow audio/video recording of all House proceedings, including point of order debates.
- Start substantive work as soon as Session begins to end delays that kill priority legislation.
- Reform the Calendars Committee to increase transparency and accountability.
- Select a Republican as Speaker Pro Tempore.
- Decentralize power by prohibiting the distribution of political funds from the Speaker.
State Representative Steve Toth told KTRH that these items should go without saying. He said, "In 49 other states, their legislatures make sure, if it's a red state, Republicans control it, and if it's a blue state, Democrats can pick their own speaker."
This stands in stark contrast to the Texas House, where Speaker Dade Phelan, who currently faces a hotly contested primary, relied heavily on Democrat votes to secure the speakership.