Speaker Dustin Burrows released committee assignments for House Members on Thursday, taking the next step in the legislative session. Committees will likely get organized quickly, especially those expected to tackle the governor’s seven emergency items. 

With the reorganization of committees, Speaker Burrows had the opportunity to shake up leadership and provide a new policy pathway through newly created standing subcommittees. Of particular note is forming a subcommittee on the workforce under the Trade, Workforce & Economic Development committee. Angie Chen Button of Garland was named chair of the principal committee and Oscar Longoria of Mission was selected to lead the subcommittee on the Workforce.

Dr. Greg Bonnen of Friendswood will continue to chair the House Committee on Appropriations. He is serving his third term as the House’s chief budget writer. 

Central Texas Rep. Brad Buckley of Salado is returning in the chair for Public Education. The Subcommittee on Academic & Career-Oriented Education is likely to be the first stop for the governor’s emergency item to bring life-changing career education to public schools. Trent Ashby of Lufkin will chair the subcommittee.

The most significant change among committees was the announcement of Rep. Cody Harris of Palestine as the new head of the Natural Resources Committee. Insiders forecasted this assignment after Gov. Greg Abbott named Rep. Harris as the House sponsor of the “Texas-sized investment” in water. Tracy King, the former chair of that committee and a leading voice for water in the Texas House, is now a senior policy advisor in Speaker Burrows’ office. This is a positive sign that the stakeholders who have worked so hard in recent years to deliver transformational investments in water will continue to have advocates working inside the building. 

The governor has set a goal of funding $1 billion per year in dedicated revenue to the Texas Water Fund over the next 10 years.

The speaker assigned members to 40 standing committees and subcommittees. The chair of each principal committee has the discretion to create additional subcommittees and appoint members to serve. 

Below is a list of Committee Chairs representing districts within the Partnership’s 12-county footprint:

• Sam Harless, Committee on Corrections
• Will Metcalf, Committee on Culture, Recreation & Tourism
• Lacey Hull, Committee on Human Services
• Cecil Bell Jr., Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs
• Harold Dutton Jr., Subcommittee on Family and Fiduciary Relationships
• Gary Gates, Committee on Land & Resource Management
• Cody Vasut, Committee on Redistricting

Click here to see the full list of committee assignments by committee. 

Click here to review the list of committee assignments by member.