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The Blast: The Texas House’s assault on sleep [1]

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Date: 2025-03

Mar 12, 2025 | View in browser

By Renzo Downey and The Texas Tribune Politics Team

2 days until the 60-day bill filing deadline

82 days until sine die

Marathon HB 3 hearing, by design The bar for the longest committee hearing of the 89th legislative session was set pretty high this morning when the House Public Education Committee adjourned at 6:29 a.m. after meeting for nearly a full 24 hours.



Some members and staff were able to squeeze in a little shut-eye before their morning commitments. Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, got all of an hour before he had to go serve as vice chair of Trade, Workforce and Economic Development. Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, worked well into the afternoon as chair of Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.



The creatures of the Capitol are no stranger to late nights each session. Typically committee hearings reach marathon status by frontloading a dozen or more bills before the controversial ones, creating a battle of wills between the committee and witnesses — or, what cynically could be referred to as a war of attrition with the general public.



The House Public Education Committee achieved its assault on sleep with just one bill. Committee members spent hours questioning Chair Brad Buckley about House Bill 3, the education savings account bill, then took hours of invited testimony.



In Monday’s Blast, we flagged that the hearing would be the first on a hotly contested bill since the House adopted its rules calling on committee chairs to facilitate their Democratic vice chair’s witness list. As it turns out, the committee interspersed its invited testimony with voucher critics, like Paige Duggins-Clay from the Intercultural Development Research Association and professor Josh Cowan from Michigan State University.



That could have contributed to the dawn adjournment.



Although the meeting began at 8 a.m., the committee didn’t get to public testimony until after 7 p.m., by which time more than 300 people from the general public had registered to testify. Not everyone who registered stuck around, but the committee still heard nearly half a day of public testimony. In the end, Buckley adjourned the meeting nearly a full day after he first gaveled in.



However, as the committee proved last week, it doesn’t have to be that way.



Last Tuesday, the committee took up House Bill 2, the public school funding bill, and heard invited testimony. On Thursday, they followed up with a hearing reserved entirely for public testimony on the bill. That strategy gave unequal treatment to the two parts that House leadership called its “Texas two-step” plan.



Cramming everything into one hearing had the effect of silencing members of the public who had wished to speak their mind about the bill, most of them against it. It also changes how the media covers it. Print papers have early deadlines, and the evening TV news will only cover the part of the hearing that occurs before the newscast. Moreover, it limits the news to one cycle of negative headlines about the bill, headlines like those about former Lufkin ISD Superintendent Roy Knight saying, “This bill is a skunk that we’re trying to pass off as a kitty cat.”



And if the committee split the hearings last week, grouping them together yesterday seemed deliberate.



In some ways, maybe it was fitting to call it the Texas two-step, with its “slow, slow” opening and its “quick-quick” follow through.

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The silent 2026 campaign over vouchers There was also a bit of 2026 positioning going on over the HB 3 hearing. Today, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office shared a clip of Rep. Charles Cunningham, a Black Republican from Humble, telling the committee that the 1957 attempt to pass school vouchers in Texas was a push for school choice. In the post, Abbott said Democrats are trying to rewrite history.



Cunningham’s comments were in response to Austin Democratic Rep. James Talarico, an aspiring governor. Forty minutes prior, Talarico, seated next to Cunningham, had said the 1957 voucher movement was an attempt to resegregate schools three years after the U.S. Supreme Court desegregated schools in Brown v. Board of Education.



However, in what was perhaps a case of imprecise clipping, near the beginning of the video, the governor’s team included Cunningham stating his opinion that the U.S. Supreme Court “got it wrong with integration.”



“I’m not sure why they’re sharing a clip with Cunningham saying Brown v. Board was wrongly decided,” one Democratic staffer told The Blast.



Talarico also squeezed in some jabs against the governor. One bout began after Rep. Alan Schoolcraft, R-McQueeney, called out a witness for posting on social media, “Lord help me. Representative Terri Leo Wilson won’t shut up. The more she talks, the more the average IQ in this room drops.”



“I’ve also seen tweets of that style from our governor, so I guess that’s the new standard,” Talarico shot back during his questioning.



“The governor’s not on this panel,” Schoolcraft interrupted him.



“You have to be recognized by the chairman,” Talarico said. “You’re a new freshman, but that’s how this works.”



Notably, Talarico has served six years in the House while Schoolcraft served nearly 12 years in the ’80s and ’90s.

Letter spells doom for gambling bill House efforts Fifteen Republican members of the Texas House yesterday signed a letter asking State Affairs Committee Chair Ken King, R-Canadian, to scrap any legislation that would expand gambling, a backward slide for efforts to bring the industry to the Lone Star State.



The signatories include 12 freshmen who replaced members who voted in favor of sports betting in 2023 and three returning members who previously supported it. That’s a net loss of 15 supporters to a measure that narrowly cleared the 100-vote threshold to pass constitutional amendments when the measure earned 101 votes in 2023. (Former Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, was absent for the vote but supported the enabling legislation.) It also represents a net loss of nine or 10 on casinos.



“Given the certainty of its failure, I urge you not to waste valuable committee time on an issue that is dead,” the 15 members wrote to King.



For your notes, the members are: Janis Holt of Silsbee

of Silsbee Mitch Little of Lewisville

of Lewisville AJ Louderback of Victoria

of Victoria J.M. Lozano of Kingsville (returning)

of Kingsville (returning) Shelley Luther of Tom Bean

of Tom Bean Don McLaughlin of Uvalde

of Uvalde Matt Morgan of Richmond

of Richmond Mike Olcott of Fort Worth

of Fort Worth Katrina Pierson of Rockwall

of Rockwall Keresa Richardson of McKinney

of McKinney Alan Schoolcraft of McQueeney

of McQueeney Joanne Shofner of Nacogdoches

of Nacogdoches Tony Tinderholt of Arlington (returning)

of Arlington (returning) Ellen Troxclair of Lakeway (returning)

of Lakeway (returning) Wes Virdell of Brady Matt Hirsch, a spokesperson for Las Vegas Sands-linked Texas Destination Resort Alliance, said it is “essential for elected officials to listen to their constituents and respect their right to vote,” adding that his group “will make it perfectly clear to the voters in each of these districts where their representative stands.”



Today, the Texas Defense PAC, funded entirely with a $9.1 million contribution from Sands owner Miriam Adelson, launched an ad against a separate anti-gambling Republican, Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano.



Although the letter signals the bill is dead in the House, the bill was already presumed dead in the Senate. Sands could have its work cut out for them in 2026.

A lobbyist parking loophole? Texas Scorecard yesterday claimed that lobbyists are “exploiting a loophole” to get reserved parking at the Capitol.



The piece says the practice is exclusive to Austin-based lobbyists. It takes aim at the Texas Trial Lawyers Association; Sabrina Brown, whose clients include AT&T and Dallas County Hospitals; Jay Brown, whose clients include Las Vegas Sands; and Mindy Ellmer, whose husband, state Rep. Charlie Geren, is a part of House leadership. Basically, Scorecard already has a bone to pick with everyone they named.



Consultant Luke Macias and activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, who wrote the post, elevated the claim.



The Blast actually looked into this over a month ago. This is what we heard from a source at the State Preservation Board:



It’s “not a loophole. We rent meters to groups and individuals on a regular (short and long term) basis. One TV station rented a meter on 11th Street in front of the Capitol all session long for about four sessions. Another TV station is doing so this session. One restaurant rented a meter all session long for a couple of sessions so they didn’t have to search for a parking space to make their deliveries. We also do a lot of one-day-to-one-week rentals for blood bank and trade association events and for marathons and street festivals.”



Scorecard is right that parking is scarce thanks to construction, particularly on Colorado Street. However, The Blast’s SPB source says people are putting up “reserved” signs because Department of Public Safety troopers are being brought in from out of town to work the Capitol. Some of those troopers have mistakenly believed the spaces are reserved for them.

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HIDDEN IMAGE Filing deadline watch: We’re still missing Senate Bill 7, 23, 30 through 34 and 26 through 39 from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick ’s list of priority measures.

’s list of priority measures. So far, House members have filed more than 5,400 bills and senators have filed more than 2,700 bills. House members filed 8,285 bills for the 2023 regular session and senators filed 3,522 bills for the regular session. Senate actions: Senate Bill 18, the bill banning drag events at public libraries, fell off the intent calendar for tomorrow. Senate Bill 11, which would create an optional prayer period in public schools, also fell off the calendar.

Senate Bill 10, the Ten Commandments bill and Senate Bill 19, the bill to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying, are still on the Senate’s intent calendar for tomorrow and are still eligible for consideration.

The Senate today passed 15 bills, including Senate Bill 20, a bill against AI child pornography, and Senate Bill 25, the “Make Texas Healthy Again” bill. Highlights from upcoming committee hearings: The Senate Local Government Committee will meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow to consider pending business, such as the bill to limit local ordinances that contribute to increased housing costs, Senate Bill 15. View the list of upcoming meeting notices here and here.



The House will convene at 9 a.m. tomorrow, ahead of services on the floor for the late Sylvester Turner.



The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

HIDDEN IMAGE Rep. Dade Phelan , R-Beaumont, has picked up some attention online for his House Bill 366, which would create a disclosure for political advertising that has been doctored with AI. Some in #txlege have taken it to suggest the bill would ban memes. Phelan laid it out in House State Affairs today, his first committee layout since 2019: “There are a lot of staffers in this Capitol who operate anonymous Twitter accounts. I’m not coming for your memes. If you like your memes, you can keep your memes.”

, R-Beaumont, has picked up some attention online for his House Bill 366, which would create a disclosure for political advertising that has been doctored with AI. Some in #txlege have taken it to suggest the bill would ban memes. Phelan laid it out in House State Affairs today, his first committee layout since 2019: “There are a lot of staffers in this Capitol who operate anonymous Twitter accounts. I’m not coming for your memes. If you like your memes, you can keep your memes.” The House and Senate are locking horns over what cut should be the steak of Texas. The House says the tomahawk ribeye, while the Senate wants to take the New York strip and rename it the Texas strip.

House and Senate are locking horns over what cut should be the steak of Texas. The House says the tomahawk ribeye, while the Senate wants to take the New York strip and rename it the Texas strip. State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst’s “Make Texas Health Again” bill, Senate Bill 25, passed that chamber today. Some in the Capitol have noted that the Brenham Republican and her husband own a couple Burger King locations. That’s on top of her office dishing out Blue Bell ice cream to Capitol-goers.

HIDDEN IMAGE Comptroller: Rafael Cruz, a pastor and father of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and former Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi endorsed former state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas. Huffines says he will be a “DOGE” comptroller.



Travis GOP: Jennifer Fleck is the next Travis County GOP chair, succeeding Matt Mackowiak. Fleck was a precinct chair and ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for the state House in 2020.



TX-9: Mayra Guillén, the sister of U.S. Army soldier Vanessa Guillén, who was killed at Fort Cavazos in 2020, is running against U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, in his safe district. Green, 77, was censured last week by the U.S. House for interrupting President Donald Trump’s address to Congress.

HIDDEN IMAGE Aaron Reitz , the chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow morning as the panel considers his nomination for assistant U.S. attorney general. Both Cruz and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn serve on the committee. Reitz previously served as deputy attorney general to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and was sometimes called the office’s “offensive coordinator.”

, the chief of staff to U.S. Sen. , will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow morning as the panel considers his nomination for assistant U.S. attorney general. Both Cruz and U.S. Sen. serve on the committee. Reitz previously served as deputy attorney general to Texas Attorney General and was sometimes called the office’s “offensive coordinator.” Vice President JD Vance gave Austin a shoutout during his speech before the National League of Cities on Monday: “In particular, I think the City of Austin has done a pretty interesting job, because, in Austin, you saw this massive increase of people moving in, the cost of housing skyrocketed, but then Austin implemented some pretty smart policies, and that brought down the cost of housing. It’s one of the few major American cities where you see the cost of housing leveling off or even coming down.”

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HIDDEN IMAGE Sylvester Turner , the late congressman, Houston mayor and state representative, will lie in honor in the Texas House from roughly noon Thursday to noon Friday. His funeral will be in Houston on Saturday.

, the late congressman, Houston mayor and state representative, will lie in honor in the Texas House from roughly noon Thursday to noon Friday. His funeral will be in Houston on Saturday. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and state Rep. Matt Shaheen, will attend a parent empowerment event at the Texas Pastors’ Policy Conference tomorrow morning in Austin.

HIDDEN IMAGE HIDDEN IMAGE

SPONSOR MESSAGES Texas Managed Care Alliance is working to protect high quality health care for Medicaid patients, ensure accountability for taxpayer dollars, and advocate for fair and competitive contracting policies. The Safer Texas Alliance supports SB 3, advocating for responsible THC policies that protect public health and safety. Better health plans start with a bigger heart. Texas Farm Bureau offers competitive, comprehensive health plans for individuals and families across the Lone Star State.

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