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Tuesday, January 11 marked the opening day of the 79th Legislative Session of the Texas Legislature. The House of Representatives is comprised of 150 members. This session, that membership is made up of 118 men and 31 women. You might notice that only adds up to 149. One member, Elizabeth Jones of San Antonio, has been appointed by the governor to the Railroad Commission and will not serve in the House. A special election has been called for February 5 to replace Ms. Jones. Once Ms. Jones' seat is filled, there will be 18 new members of the House this session. The partisan breakdown of the membership, excluding Ms. Jones' seat, is 86 republicans and 63 democrats or 58% and 42%.
Following the swearing-in ceremony for the members, the first order of business for the House was to elect a Speaker of the House for the session. The House members once again elected, by a nearly unanimous vote, Representative Tom Craddick of Midland to serve as speaker. This will be Speaker Craddick's second term as House Speaker. Last session, Rep. Craddick became the first republican to be elected speaker in 130 years. He has served 18 terms in the House, having been first elected in 1969. With 36 years of service, he and Rep. Paul Moreno of El Paso are the most senior members of the House.
Other duties of the House during the first week of business include passing a Housekeeping Resolution and House Rules. The Housekeeping Resolution establishes the administrative functions and duties of offices and members of the House. It covers such issues as office budgets, contracting issues, powers and duties of the Speaker of the House, and a number of other administrative issues.
One special provision was added to the Housekeeping Resolution this year as a result of a constitutional amendment which was passed by the citizens of Texas in 2003. The constitutional amendment allowed a member of the legislature who is serving on active duty in the military to assign a temporary member to serve in the member's place. Rep. Rick Noriega, from Houston, is currently serving in Afghanistan with the National Guard and temporarily assigned his wife, Melissa Noriega, to fill his seat while he is on active duty. Accordingly, the Housekeeping Resolution included a new section to comply with this constitutional provision.
House Rules dictate procedural issues with regard to the House of Representatives. The rules establish committees, the bill and amendment process, House Floor procedure, and many other issues which provide the framework of daily activity for the House. Among other changes, the House Rules were changed to require the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Unites States and Texas Flags. Last session the legislature required school children to do the same.
You can contact me by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by e-mailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us.
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