Players in Place for the 84th Texas Legislative Session

Written by: David Criss

It has long been speculated that there is a typo in the Texas Constitution and the forefathers intended for the Texas Legislature to meet for two days every 140 years.  However, as it stands, the Texas Legislature meets for 140 days every two years, barring special sessions.  Thus, the 84th Session will be “gaveled-in” this January and now we know who the players will be.

First, as most of you know, Greg Abbot was elected Governor and Dan Patrick was elected as the new Lieutenant Governor.  While both are experienced in government operations, they are still rookies to these new positions.  Joe Straus, who was elected Speaker of the House in 2009, will be the principal veteran returning to the leadership lineup.

The Texas Senate will have 20 Republicans and 11 Democrats, including 7 freshmen and another rookie to be named later who will fill the seat of current Senator Glenn Hegar who was elected  Comptroller, and thus will be resigning his Senate seat.  The 7 elected new members are:

 SD 2: Bob Hall-R (Canton)

SD 4: Brandon Creighton-R (Conroe)

SD 7: Paul Bettencourt-R (Houston)

SD 8: Van Taylor-R (Plano)

SD 10: Konni Burton-R (Fort Worth)

SD 16: Don Huffines-R (Dallas)

SD 28: Charles Perry-R (Lubbock)

Over in the House, there will be 98 Republicans and 52 Democrats as the Speaker sounds the starting gavel.  Joining the 36 rookies from last biennial, the 83rd session, will be 25 new House members.  That’s right, 61 members with one session or less worth of experience.  The new faces this year are:

HD 1: Gary VanDeaver-R (New Boston)

HD 4: Stuart Spitzer-R (Kaufman)

HD 10: John Wray-R (Waxahachie)

HD 15: Mark Keough-R (Spring)

HD 16: Will Metcalf-R (Conroe)

HD 21: Dade Phelan-R (Port Arthur)

HD 23: Wayne Faircloth-R (Galveston)

HD 50: Celia Israel-D (Austin)

HD 53: Andrew Murr-R (Junction)

HD 55: Molly White-R (Temple)

HD 58: DeWayne Burns-R (Cleburne)

HD 66: Matt Shaheen-R (Plano)

HD 76: Cesar Blanco-D (El Paso)

HD 81: Brooks Landgraf-R (Odessa)

HD 83: Dustin Burrows-R (Lubbock)

HD 90: Ramon Romero-D (Fort Worth)

HD 94: Tony Tinderholt-R (Arlington)

HD 102: Linda Koop-R (Dallas)

HD 105: Rodney Anderson-R (Grand Prairie)

HD 108: Morgan Meyer-R (Dallas)

HD 115: Matt Rinaldi-R (Irving)

HD 117: Rick Galindo-R (San Antonio)

HD 129: Dennis Paul-R (Houston)

HD 132: Mike Schofield-R (Katy)

HD 144: Gilbert Pena-R (Pasadena)

In a Senate with a rookie quarterback as Lieutenant Governor and 8 of 31 (slightly over 25%) players being new to this game and a House team of limited experience in most positions, we could see some interesting early headlines.  It also creates a challenge for those participating in this year’s Texas Monthly Best and Worst Legislatures fantasy draft.  I will be following the play-by-play on my new twitter @jdcriss as legislation is pre-filed and later as the session gets underway. For more information on the legislation you can also refer to the Criss & Kraft blog.  Although my primary focus will be health care legislation, having spent a few sessions close to the action, I can’t resist mixing in a few other highlights, as well as, the occasional best and worst plays.

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