GOP pushes for penalties after Burrows wins Speaker race: 'We're going to keep our word'

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A contentious vote Tuesday ended a months-long battle that divided Texas lawmakers. Lubbock Republican State Rep. Dustin Burrows won the vote for House Speaker. But some of his opponents believe the fight is not over.

Burrows shared a message of unity in his acceptance speech after facing pressure from his own party to step down from the race.

“Recent days have tested our bonds, yet they’ve also proven that this institution is greater than any one individual or faction,” Burrows said to his House colleagues on the dais. He went on to say members will need to work together to pass property tax cuts, public education funding, and water infrastructure fixes.

"At the end of the day, we have to work together, because of whom we represent. We work for the people," Burrows said in his speech.

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Texas Republican Party Chair Abraham George were vocal on social media that House Republicans should vote for the House GOP Caucus nominee, Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield. Cook won the nomination during a closed-door meeting of the caucus on Dec. 7. On the same day, Burrows declared victory after he and other Republican members walked out of the meeting.

Burrows ended up winning the Speaker race after getting 85 votes to Cook's 55. Burrows only needed 36 votes from his own party and was able to secure the win by getting a majority of votes from the Democratic House members.

Patrick said in a statement, “I am proud of the Republicans who stood together and voted for Rep. Cook, the House Republican Caucus nominee. Republican voters expected the new speaker to be elected by Republicans, not Democrats.”

George, the Texas Republican Party Chairman, said it is not the result the party was hoping for, but they hope Burrows will work to pass conservative legislation and fulfill the party's top priorities. However, George did say he would not be surprised if some of the county Republican parties decide to censure members who voted for Burrows.

"I believe we need to hold them accountable personally, and I also believe the party will do that," George said. There had always been a threat of censure in the lead-up to the vote. The Republican party of Texas had actually run attack ads in Burrows' district, and Attorney General Paxton and George did a two-day, four-city tour to talk about the Speaker race in districts of Republicans who had not come out in support of Cook.

The Texas GOP website also ran a banner at the top of its page that is linked to a list of House Republicans who were not in support of Cook.

The rules of the party say a member can be censured if they violate Republican principles at least three times in a two-year span. If a member is penalized by a county party, then the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) will review the censure and recommend penalties to George. One of those penalties would remove the member from the ballot and not allow them to run as a Republican in the next cycle, George said.

But is that legal? Can a political party decide to not allow someone to run as a Republican or Democrat in a primary election? It is a question that became more prevalent as the Speaker race started heating up with threats of censuring members.

David Luther is the president of the Texas Republican County Chairmen's Association and it is his job to provide education and training to County Party chairs across the state. As soon as someone becomes a chair of the County Party they automatically become a member of the association, Luther explained.

He said he knew the legality of the party rules could possibly come up depending on how the Speaker race ended. He reached out to a Texas law firm, Scanes, Yelverton, and Talbert, to ask them about the legality of removing someone from the ballot.

Luther said the law firm had already been studying case law on the subject and was able to send him a memo of its findings and analysis. The front page of the memo says, "The Texas Election Code does not permit political parties to restrict ballot access with additional obligations like Rule 44(e); instead, a party chair has a mandatory duty to accept and certify ballot applications complying with the Election Code."

The memo went on to say, "to insist that the party’s own procedures must prevail over election law, the party would have to argue that the Texas Election Code’s provision violates the party’s
First Amendment freedom of association rights. Such a challenge is unlikely to succeed. Under existing law, the better answer is that Rule 44(e) cannot override Texas election law."

Luther took the memo and posted it to his X account and shared it with the county chairs in case they had questions about the legality of party rules.

George said he expects there to be a legal battle if the party decides to impose that sort of penalty. The SREC is expected to meet sometime in the next two weeks, but George said there is no resolution on the table currently to censure anyone.

"We're going to keep our word. If that means spending millions of dollars in court, we're going to do that," George said.

The last member to be censured was former Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont. The censure resolution against Phelan listed five actions as grounds for censure. Part of the reasons listed included the impeachment of Paxton and the appointment of House Democratic members to chair committees.

One of the penalties listed in Phelan's censure resolution said Phelan is "discouraged" from participating in the 2024 Republican primary. Phelan did participate and won a close run-off election.

Battle for school funding to continue at the Capitol

Many school districts across the state are facing budget deficits and are now having to make difficult decisions.

Because there has been no increase in funding since 2019, districts are having to cut programs or close down schools because deficits are too large to manage.

This week Eanes Independent School District announced it would be closing Valley View Elementary School at the end of the school year. The district also cut a Spanish immersion program that catered to more than 900 students.

"The state of Texas is really making it hard for school districts across the board," said Eanes ISD parent Chandler Hatchett.

Some Republicans have been pushing for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) while Democrats are pushing hard against them.

Governor Greg Abbott put a spotlight on ESAs as he addressed lawmakers in the Texas Senate on the first day of the legislative session. He told Senators that improving opportunities for Texans should be a guidepost for their work in the session, adding that ESAs are essential to achieving that goal.

"I can testify for a fact to the urgent pleas of 1000s of Texans to please use your voice and use your vote this session to expand the opportunity for every parent to choose the school that's best for their child," Abbott said.

Public school districts and Democratic lawmakers argue that public money is best invested into the public school system, and because district funding is based on student attendance, any form of private school stipend would reduce their resources.

"We have a school funding emergency in the state," said Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin.

Talarico said this year the focus will again rest on getting Texas districts the money they need, but will ESAs or vouchers be tied to any funding bills?

"I think we learned our lesson last time when we shot down vouchers and [Gov.] Greg Abbott sabotaged school funding as retaliation," Talarico said. "This time we want to separate the two so that our students and teachers are going to get the resources they need."

Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton, who helped lead the charge with ESAs last session, told KXAN in December, that lawmakers still plan to get both ESAs and school funding done this time around.

"We are all fully intentioned to lift up public schools with the funding they need and also provide education opportunities for those that need it most," Creighton said.

He said ESAs are about giving parents and students opportunity and choice.

"It is what will set our Texas students up to be the most successful in the future," Creighton said.

What do Texans want from lawmakers? Poll provides insight

Before the legislative session got underway, the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin asked voters what they think should be top priority for lawmakers this go around. Answers from that poll could influence aspects of the session.

James Henson, the executive director of the Texas Politics Project noted that the top responses in the poll matched pre-election public opinion polls.

"The top two responses, very familiar, immigration and border security," Henson said, noting that 22% of the people polled cited those issues as their top concerns.

The economy/prices came out second in the poll, with 16% saying that should be the top priority at the legislature.

"I think the thing to really notice about that is how much continuity there is between what we saw in the election that we in November, and what we're seeing going into the session.

The poll questioned 1200 registered voters. This poll was in the field between December 9 through December 17.

"The idea here was to check in with voters at a little distance after the election, but before the coverage of the session really kicked in," Henson said.

The poll, by charting public opinion, could have the potential to affect what lawmakers prioritize in the coming weeks.

"I think on one hand, we know that elected officials look at polling a lot," Henson said. "Lawmakers are like a lot of the rest of people. They kind of pick and choose what they notice and what they don't, what they put stock in, what they don't."

"I think what is likely to be the thing that's most noticed is going to be the degree to which the economy and prices are still dominating how people are thinking about policy, whether it's the national level or the state level," Henson added. "That concern about the economy and prices is going to be the prism through which a lot of voters look at what the legislature does or does not do."

New lawmakers make history, push priorities as session begins

The first day of the legislative session brought a lot of new faces to the Capitol. According to the Legislative Reference Library, there are 34 new lawmakers this session, 31 in the House and three in the Senate.

We spoke to two of the new lawmakers, one Senator and one Representative, to get insight into what led them to the Capitol, and how they hope to make a difference this session.

Amarillo Representative Caroline Fairly made a bit of history on opening day. At 26 years old, she is the youngest Republican ever elected to the Texas House.

"I believe conservatives in my generation, we have to step up for the future of Texas, for the future of our kids and the next generation," Fairly said in an interview after Tuesday's swearing in ceremony.  

Fairly filed her first bill in early December. The legislation aims to limit cell phone use for students in classrooms.

"We care about our kids focusing on math, science, reading," Fairly said. "The focus on that is protecting kids from seeing things on their phones that they shouldn't be exposed to at school, and bringing them back to understand to understanding the basics of education."

Fairly won her election with support from conservatives like Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Ronny Jackson. Her father, Alex Fairly, is known for donating millions of dollars to conservative candidates.

Hours before she took the oath of office, Fairly announced she would support Dustin Burrows for Speaker, after previously backing David Cook.

"Speaker Burrows, he is from the Lubbock area, and so I know that him coming into this position, it will help our area, the Panhandle, have more leverage and influence in the Texas House," Fairly said.

"I fundamentally believe he will lead the House in conservative ways," Fairly added.

Senator Molly Cook is a first-term Democrat in a chamber dominated by Republicans. Cook, an ER nurse in Houston, said while it will be difficult to pass legislation, it's important to have a voice like hers in the debate.

"Whether or not you get to put your name on a bill and pass something huge, but you do have a life saving impact on the policies that do get passed, and it's important, especially as a nurse, to be in the room for those conversations," Cook said.

"I tell people that I'm really taking my practice from the bedside to the Capitol," Cook explained. "So instead of one patient at a time, I have 950,000 patients at a time, or 28 million patients at a time."

This will be Cook's first session. But she took office last spring, after a special election to fill the seat previously held by John Whitmire, who left the Senate to become mayor of Houston. Cook had her swearing-in ceremony on May 16, the same day a derecho hit Houston, causing widespread damage.

"My swearing-in ceremony was in the path of the tornado," Cook said.

Cook's experience as a nurse in the aftermath of that storm, and Hurricane Beryl last summer, shaped her decision to file a bill to study whether to bury power lines in parts of Texas.

"After knocking on doors to check on seniors when the power went out after both the derecho and Hurricane Beryl, I clocked in at the ER and I saw those same patients and their struggles to breathe, to stay warm or to stay cool, get the food and medicine that they needed," Cook said.

"So I'm very excited to say we're going to find out what we need to figure out if we can bury the power lines and keep the power on."

Cook also made history as the first out LGBTQ+ member of the State Senate. She knows that some people may be looking for her to be a voice for that community.

"It is such a incredible honor. And I always start by showing gratitude to then Senator Barbara Jordan, who, of course, was gay and couldn't be out because the times were not what they are now," Cook said.

"And it's no secret that the last legislative session was filled with vicious attacks on our community, and I'm very proud to get to symbolize the resiliency of that community," Cook added.