Dear Texas Republicans,

Yesterday, we learned the full list of member appointments to committees of the Texas House, as appointed by Speaker Joe Straus.

The list of House Committee Chairman Assignments are as follows:


Agriculture & Livestock

Rick Hardcastle

R

Vernon

Appropriations

Jim Pitts

R

Waxahachie

Border & Intergovernmental Affairs

Veronica Gonzales

D

McAllen

Business & Industry

Joe Deshotel

D

Beaumont

Calendars

Todd Hunter

R

Corpus Christi

Corrections

Jerry Madden

R

Richardson

County Affairs

Garnet Coleman

D

Houston

Criminal Jurisprudence

Pete Gallego

D

Alpine

Culture, Recreation & Tourism

Ryan Guillen

D

Rio Grande City

Defense & Veterans’ Affairs

Joe Pickett

D

El Paso

Economic & Small Business Development

John Davis

R

Houston

Elections

Larry Taylor

R

Friendswood

Energy Resources

Jim Keffer

R

Eastland

Environmental Regulation

Wayne Smith

R

Baytown

General Investigating & Ethics

Chuck Hopson

R

Jacksonville

Government Efficiency & Reform

Bill Callegari

R

Katy

Higher Education

Dan Branch

R

Dallas

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Sid Miller

R

Stephenville

House Administration

Charlie Geren

R

Fort Worth

Human Services

Richard Peña Raymond

D

Laredo

Insurance

John Smithee

R

Amarillo

Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Jim Jackson

R

Carrollton

Land & Resource Management

Rene Oliveira

D

Brownsville

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Mike Hamilton

R

Mauriceville

Local & Consent Calendars

Senfronia Thompson

D

Houston

Natural Resources

Allan Ritter

R

Nederland

Pensions, Investments & Financial Services

Vicki Truitt

R

Keller

Public Education

Rob Eissler

R

The Woodlands

Public Health

Lois Kolkhorst

R

Brenham

Redistricting

Burt Solomons

R

Carrollton

Rules & Resolutions

Ruth Jones McClendon

D

San Antonio

State Affairs

Byron Cook

R

Corsicana

Technology

Aaron Peña

R

Edinburg

Transportation

Larry Phillips

R

Sherman

Urban Affairs

Harold Dutton Jr

D

Houston

Ways & Means

Harvey Hilderbran

R

Kerrville

Select Committee on State Sovereignty

Brandon Creighton

R

Conroe

Select Committee on Voter Identification and Voter Fraud

Dennis Bonnen

R

Angleton

Select Committee on Election Contest

Todd Hunter

R

Corpus Christi

Select Committee on Oversight and HHS Eligibility System

Fred Brown

R

College Station

For a full list of committee memberships for all House members, please visit this link.

As you already know, the GOP holds 101 out of 150 seats in the Texas House for a percentage of 67.3% of the membership. The long-standing tradition of the Texas House is to share committeee chairmanships with the minority party in roughly equal parts to the overall makeup of the body. But with these appointments from Speaker Joe Straus, Republican legislators hold an even greater percentage of committee chairmanships – 72.5% (29 out of 40 regular and special committees.)

Chairman Steve Munisteri commented, “I very much look forward to working with the Republican leadership of the House to ensure the passage of the RPT’s conservative agenda with special emphasis on our priority items, such as voter ID, cutting spending, etc. I congratulate the new Republican chairmen on their appointments. We are ready to press forward in making this a very productive session!”


Over in the Texas Senate, there are not as many changes to report. With 13 of 20 Committees remaining under the experienced leadership of Republican committee chairs, the biggest news is that Lt. Governor David Dewhurst has appointed a new committee to tackle redistricting and appointed Republican Senator Kel Seliger to chair the committee. The full list of Senate committees and chairs are below:


Administration

Kevin Eltife

R

Tyler

Agriculture & Rural Affairs

Craig Estes

R

Wichita Falls

Business & Commerce

John Carona

R

Dallas

Criminal Justice

John Whitmire

D

Houston

Economic Development

Mike Jackson

R

La Porte

Education

Florence Shapiro

R

Plano

Finance

Steve Ogden

R

Bryan

Government Organization

Rodney Ellis

D

Houston

Health & Human Services

Jane Nelson

R

Flower Mound

Higher Education

Judith Zaffrini

D

Laredo

Intergovernmental Relations

Royce West

D

Dallas

Subcommittee on Flooding & Evacuations

Mario Gallegos, Jr.

D

Houston

International Relations & Trade

Eddie Lucio, Jr.

D

Brownsville

Jurisprudence

Chris Harris

R

Arlington

Natural Resources

Troy Fraser

R

Horseshoe Bay

Nominations

Bob Deuell

R

Greenville

Select Committee on Redistricting

Kel Seliger

R

Amarillo

State Affairs

Robert Duncan

R

Lubbock

Transportation & Homeland Security

Tommy Williams

R

The Woodlands

Veterans Affairs & Military Installations

Leticia Van de Putte

D

San Antonio

For a full list of committee memberships for all Senate members, please visit this link.

With regard to these appointments, Chairman Munisteri stated, “It is evident that our Senate Republican leadership has come to Austin ready to work hard. Already they have moved swiftly to pass a critically needed Voter ID bill, which is one of our top priorities. We are expecting more good news from the Senate and I congratulate all of our Senators who were re-appointed as Committee chairs. I thank them for their leadership, and commend all of our Republican Senators for already helping to get Voter ID passed.