Speaker Phelan Hires Chief of Staff
Speaker Dade Phelan has hired lobbyist and former House member Mike Toomey to be his new chief of staff. Toomey served three terms in the Texas House, first elected in 1982. He then served as former Governor Bill Clements’ chief of staff in 1989 and 1990 before a long career as a lobbyist in Austin. He did leave the lobby briefly to serve as chief of staff to Governor Rick Perry in 2003 and 2004. With Phelan having to fight for his Speakership in January, the hiring of Toomey is intended to place his office under the direction of a more seasoned and respected member of the Austin political establishment. Phelan called Toomey “a storied titan of Texas politics, with impressive experience in both the public and private sectors.”
But there are some of the more conservative factions of the Republican party – with whom Phelan has been at odds – that immediately criticized the hire, calling Toomey a “taxpayer-funded casino lobbyist”. Toomey also drew criticism from the far right for his representation of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the group that has shouldered at least part of the blame for the House impeachment of AG Ken Paxton last year.
This sets up an interesting scenario that will test the ability of Phelan and Toomey to now keep the Republican caucus more harmonious with a huge freshman class entering that is more aligned with the more conservative wing of the party. In addition, most members of the new class are not going to be familiar with Toomey and may not be persuaded by the past accomplishments on his resume.
As a first order of business under Toomey’s direction, the Speaker’s office sent out a press release on Wednesday saying they had conducted a meeting with all Speaker staff with a directive for the staff to begin developing policy ideas for the session beginning in January. The statement also outlined priorities for the Speaker’s office, including job creation, economic development, and cutting wasteful spending in state government. Phelan also said he will have a renewed focus on school choice and education funding, putting an emphasis on collaboration with Gov. Abbott and the Texas Senate.
Gov. Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick have made school choice a priority for the past two sessions, and school choice legislation has passed the Senate on several occasions during the regular and special sessions. The House has yet to come to a consensus on school choice legislation, which led to both Abbott and Patrick’s involvement in defeating several House Republican incumbents earlier this year who opposed school choice.
In the statement, Phelan also emphasized the agenda for the House next session will ultimately be dictated by the members and welcomed all members to give feedback to his staff as they prepare for the session.
Election/Voting in Spotlight
Since former President Trump made claims about the 2020 election being stolen, the legislature has focused a great deal of attention on the elections and voting process throughout the state. Several stories made headlines this week that will undoubtedly carry over into the legislative session.
Over the weekend, AG Ken Paxton announced his office had executed several search warrants last week in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar Counties as part of an investigation into alleged election fraud and vote harvesting in the 2022 elections. Paxton claims that a two-year long investigation by his office had provided more than enough evidence to obtain search warrants. Raids were conducted at the home of the head of the Tejano Democrats in San Antonio where 65 cell phones and 41 computers were confiscated. Offices connected to the League of United Latin American Citizens were also searched in connection with the warrants issued. And Cecilia Castellano informed the Houston Chronicle that her house was raided over the weekend where agents confiscated her cell phone. This is noteworthy due to the fact that Castellano is the Democratic nominee for House District 80 in south Texas. This is a hotly contested open House seat currently held by a Democrat who did not seek reelection. Republicans have targeted the seat and hope to flip it in the November election.
Latino civil rights leaders announced on Wednesday that they would ask the federal government and the Texas Senate to investigate the raids conducted at the request of Paxton, calling them baseless and nothing more than attempts to intimidate and discourage people from voting and participating in the election process.
Also, over the weekend, Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that her office would have an enhanced presence of monitors in Harris County for the 2024 general election. A recent audit conducted by her office found multiple issues with the process during the 2022 election in Harris County. In particular, the SOS found the county was failing to provide adequate training for poll workers and failing to maintain a sufficient amount of election related materials at all polling locations. The SOS will assign state monitors to oversee election preparations and observe the handling and counting of ballots.
And just as the House Elections Committee was meeting on Monday to discuss the audits by the SOS of Harris and other counties, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick issued a statement criticizing Speaker Phelan for letting a series of election-related bills die in the House that had passed the Senate during the 2023 regular session. Patrick said the bills would have “restored the public’s confidence in fair and honest elections.” Also, while the hearing was taking place, Gov. Abbott issued a statement that the state had purged more than 1 million ineligible voters from state voter rolls since the passage of Senate Bill 1 in 2022. SB 1 was a comprehensive bill dealing with state election laws that caused several special sessions and saw the departure of House Democrats in protest of the bill.
The House Elections committee does not have any other meetings scheduled at this time. The chairman – Rep. Reggie Smith of Sherman – was defeated earlier this year in the Republican primary.
An additional step that has been taken by AG Ken Paxton is the establishment of a tipline for citizens to report concerns about alleged voter fraud. An email account has been established through the state Attorney General’s office and through a statement issued, Paxton says is “part of his office’s election integrity initiative which leverages the Office of Attorney General law enforcement authority and resources to protect the integrity of every legal vote.” This follows what Florida has done by establishing a voter fraud hotline, a toll-free number established for the same purpose.
Housing Affordability Issues
According to a new report issued by state Comptroller Glenn Hegar, the median home price in Texas has risen 40% between 2019 and 2023. The median home price in 2022 in Texas was $340,000. The Sherman-Denison area has seen a 66% increase in the last four years and the Rio Grande Valley has seen home prices jump 73% in the same time period. In Houston, home prices have increased 128% over the last 20 years as the minimum income level needed to qualify for a mortgage has increased by 45%.
In the report, Hegar warned that the state’s economic growth can be threatened if home prices continue to jump this rapidly. Contributing to the rise in prices is a shortage of affordable housing, especially for low- and middle-income households. As millions of new residents have moved to Texas, the housing market did not keep pace. In the report’s conclusion, Texas must create a market for more homes to be built to contain the high cost of housing. Texas needs to build at least 300,000 more homes according to one estimate in the report.
The legislature has focused mainly on reducing property taxes to try and tackle housing affordability, but more needs to be done. Both chambers have tasked committees to study more ways to increase the housing supply, which is the only way to truly stabilize home prices. Committees are looking at several issues such as mandating cities change zoning laws to allow more residential construction and examining institutional investors involved in the housing market. Those are the companies that own more than 1,000 units in the market, and account for nearly one-third of all residential sales in Texas.
Border News
A state district judge in Houston has denied the initial request by AG Ken Paxton to shut down a local immigration support group over allegations of their involvement in political activities, which would be in violation of their status as a nonprofit. Paxton has sued to shut down the group FIEL, who provides education and social support to migrant families in the Houston area. Paxton has accused the group of engaging in political activities including lobbying the legislature, which is a violation of federal rules governing activities of nonprofit organizations. The judge in Houston dismissed the complaint and stopped the case from moving forward.
And in another ruling this week, a federal judge has paused the Biden administration’s policy that would have given the spouses of US citizens a much easier path to legal status. Under current law, undocumented immigrants married to US citizens can apply to legalize their status but must first leave the country to make application. The proposal from the Biden administration allows them to make application for citizenship without leaving the country.
The state of Texas has joined 15 other states challenge the new policy, calling it unconstitutional since there was no input from Congress on the change in law. The policy would have benefitted an estimated 500,000 migrants currently living in the US. The pause is only temporary, and the judge has given both sides until October 10th to file briefs in the case.
Labor Day Travel
Travel for the three-day holiday weekend is expected to be up by 9% over the 2023 Labor Day weekend. TSA is expecting a record 17 million people to go through airport security from yesterday through Monday in airports across the country. The good news – according to AAA – is that prices are down compared to last year. Airfare is down 5% compared to last year and gas prices are 13% cheaper than Labor Day weekend in 2023. Seattle is the most popular destination for domestic travel this year due to its connection as a departure point for cruises to Alaska.
Political Notes
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced the formation of the Texas Senate Leadership Fund PAC. In a statement announcing the creation of the PAC, Patrick said the PAC will “ensure we have the resources to support the mission of the conservative majority of the Texas Senate.” The PAC will focus on key races in 2024 with the goal of maintaining and expanding the Republican majority in the Texas Senate. Patrick also said he wants to see the Senate continue to lead on issues important to the membership including border security, property taxes, and voter integrity.
In speaking to the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce this week, US Senator John Cornyn made headlines with harsh criticism of Vice-President Kamala Harris. Cornyn said the Harris/Walz ticket is “flip-flopping” on several issues, particularly regarding border security. Cornyn cited a recent ad for the Harris campaign pointing to her efforts to prosecute drug related offenders as AG of California and even shows an image of the border wall. Cornyn went on to emphasize that Harris has been part of the Biden administration – which has been harshly criticized by both parties for the record pace of migrant crossings into the US — for the past three years but is now touting a tougher stance on border security
Erica Lee Carter – the daughter of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee – was the only Democrat to file in the upcoming special election to fill the remainder of Jackson Lee’s term that ends in December. The special election is November 5th and ensures she will serve the last couple of months of the term. Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was recently chosen by the Harris County Democratic Party to be the nominee for next year’s term that will begin in January.
According to ADImpact, Incumbent Republican US Senator Ted Cruz has reserved $9.5 million in TV ads. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign also reserved $2.8 million for Cruz. No details were provided on when the ads would start to air. Democratic nominee Colin Allred has a new ad on YouTube that criticized Cruz for his stance on Social Security and Medicare. The ad also mentions Cruz’s trip to Cancun during the 2021 winter freeze.
What’s Next??
The House Insurance Committee meets on Wednesday to examine the rising costs of healthcare including pharmaceutical costs and hidden fees resulting from hospital stays.
The Senate Finance Committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss options for reducing property taxes and to examine the state’s involvement in mental health services.
Here is a link to the full list of hearings later this summer and fall, and the agenda for each hearing: https://capitol.texas.gov