The opening day of the 89th regular legislative session is Tuesday, Jan. 14, and the stakes are extremely high for public education, educators, and school employees.
While most bills will not begin to move until March, opening week is an important time: the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives will likely be elected by the members of the body on the first day of session. Shortly after, the members of the House will offer amendments to and vote on the House Rules that will govern the body’s work in the 89th Texas Legislature. Additionally, Comptroller of Public Accounts Glen Hagar is expected to release his Biennial Revenue Estimate, quantifying the budget surplus legislators will have available to spend, and Gov. Greg Abbott will announce his list of emergency items determining which legislation can be moved in the first 60 days of the legislative session.
We will discuss the latter two of these updates after exploring the latest developments in the race to serve as the next Speaker of the Texas House.
Election Update: Speaker of the Texas House
The speaker’s election will have significant implications for how the legislative process is conducted in the 89th Texas Legislature and for the outcomes we can expect. As we noted in a previous edition of this newsletter, outgoing Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) withdrew from the speaker’s race after narrowly surviving a primary runoff against a challenger backed by dark money; Phelan also faced pressure from an insurgent “reform” movement within the House GOP Caucus, driven by priorities adopted by delegates to the Republican Party of Texas’s state convention. With insufficient support to secure re-election to the powerful position, Phelan chose to step aside.
Among the most prominent of the proposed “reforms” are requiring that Republican legislators – who now command an 88-member majority in the Texas House following the 2024 elections – elect the candidate for speaker endorsed by the House GOP Caucus, ending the long-standing practice of the majority party appointing members of the minority party to serve as committee chairs (you may have seen the slogan “Ban Democrat Chairs” used on social media), and changing the process governing the House parliamentarian’s interpretation and the speaker’s enforcement of the House Rules. An effort to amend the House Rules to “Ban Democrat Chairs” failed in the 88th legislative session in 2023.
If these rule changes are adopted, the Texas House is expected to work much more like the Texas Senate – which is dominated by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Republican majority – than the more thoughtful, deliberative body that state representatives have considered it to be in the past.
As of today, three candidates are running to serve as the next Speaker of the Texas House: two Republicans – representing different factions in their intra-party civil war – and one Democrat. Here’s what we know about each and their positions on K-12 and higher education.
Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos (D-Richardson)
The Democratic legislator in the race is State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos (D-Richardson) from the Dallas area. Ramos has long been an outspoken and progressive leader in the Texas House, using her position to fight for a government that is more responsive to the needs of working people and vulnerable populations. Ramos has expressed strong support for public schools, educators, and school employees in her campaign for speaker while repudiating vouchers.
In the 88th regular legislative session, Ramos voted for key budget amendments that would have increased the basic allotment and provided educators and school employees with raises. She has since indicated that these policies remain among her top priorities. Ramos also voted to remove the voucher provision from House Bill 1, the omnibus school finance, private school voucher, and standardized testing reform legislation advanced by House Public Education Committee Chairman Brad Buckley (R-Salado) in the 88th fourth special session in late 2023. HB 1 was the ultimate vehicle by which Abbott and his allies in the state Legislature held $4.5 billion in additional public education funding hostage for vouchers, as Chairman Buckley killed his bill after a bipartisan coalition succeeded at removing the voucher provision demanded by Abbott.
It must be noted that a candidate for speaker must earn at least 76 votes to win the election. With an 88-member Republican majority and given the current political climate, it is unlikely that any Democrat could surpass this threshold due to the Republican support that would be required.
The two Republican candidates are Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield).
Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock)
Burrows, a lieutenant of former Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) and current Speaker Dade Phelan, entered the race after Phelan dropped out. Burrows is considered by observers to be the “establishment” candidate. Burrows, a former House GOP Caucus chair and considered a very conservative lawmaker, is known within the labor movement as the author of the “Death Star” bill, which passed in 2023 and strips cities of their ability to protect workers through local ordinances like mandatory water breaks for construction workers, paid sick leave requirements, and other basic labor protections.
In 2023, he voted against both of the good budget amendments that would have increased the basic allotment and provided raises. He also voted against removing the voucher provision from HB 1, in line with his having taken pro-voucher votes throughout the legislative session. After losing the GOP caucus endorsement vote, Burrows claimed to have assembled a list of 76 supporters – 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats – which he later publicly released. Since the list was released, however, several of Burrows’ Republican colleagues and one Democrat have stated that they did not agree to have their names added to the list or have withdrawn their support.
While he has not been known as a pro-public education legislator, Burrows recently expressed support for “public education funding and increased support for teachers.” Burrows is expected to leave decisions related to the practice of appointing Democratic chairs and the parliamentarian’s interpretation of and speaker’s enforcement of the rules to the “will of the House,” to be determined during the debate and votes on the House Rules.
Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield)
Cook, on the other hand, is considered an insurgent candidate supported by the “grassroots” conservative movement, though these credentials have been called into question given the role that the Christian Nationalist West Texas billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilkes have played in stoking the intra-Republican party conflict. Cook won the House GOP Caucus endorsement with 48 votes after multiple rounds of voting and a walkout by 26 members who objected to the process in a bitterly contested caucus meeting in early December 2024.
Like Burrows, Cook voted against the good budget amendments that would have increased the basic allotment and provided raises, and he also voted against removing the voucher provision from HB 1. Unlike Burrows, however, Cook has had a difficult time securing any support from Democrats, particularly since the members of the House Democratic Caucus decided that none of its members would support Cook while releasing them to support any other candidate of their choosing.
Cook has committed to the demands to “reform” the Texas House and recently stated that, if elected, he would ensure that committees’ membership reflects the overall makeup of the Texas House. Nevertheless, Cook has been reaching out to Democratic legislators and attempting to earn their support. On Jan. 2, Cook sent a letter to House Democrats stating:
“While we fundamentally disagree on the issue of school choice, I believe that all Texas families should have access to the best educational opportunities for their children. Over 90% of students in Texas are part of the public education system in Texas and thus it is essential for the House to address other critical educational reforms, such as a significant overhaul or phasing out of the STAAR test and a much-needed pay raise for our teachers. It is also crucial for the House to carefully examine how we fund our public schools—specifically, transitioning to enrollment-based funding versus attendance-based funding. While I remain mindful of the potential impact of enrollment growth as a long-term cost driver to the state, this issue deserves thoughtful consideration and could serve as a point of common ground in the upcoming legislative session.”
Texas is one of just six states that determines funding for public schools based on attendance rather than enrollment, a punitive method that does nothing to support school districts grappling with chronic absenteeism. Under the current attendance-based system, over 516,000 students (9.3% of the state’s enrollment) across the state were uncounted in the 2023-2024 school year. The transition to enrollment-based funding – or at least a partial transition for some allotments – enjoys bipartisan support in the Texas House, but there are some outspoken critics of the proposal who argue that public schools are already adequately funded or even overfunded, accusing school districts of misusing their resources instead of spending a greater share of them to directly support students, educators, and school employees.
Democratic support is expected to play a crucial role in the election of the speaker, as Cook only won 48 votes in the House GOP Caucus endorsement meeting and is increasingly seen by his colleagues as a polarizing figure given the personal attacks that have been waged against Burrows supporters by outside groups and the threats made by Republican Party of Texas Chairman Abraham George to censure Republicans who support Burrows and have them removed from the March 2026 Republican primary ballots. Cook may have won a majority of the votes of the 88-member House GOP Caucus, but it is considered highly unlikely that he has secured the 76 votes necessary to be elected speaker.
There is likely to be a flurry of activity and dealmaking prior to the speaker’s election, and there remains much uncertainty as to the outcome despite there being so few days left before the vote.
House Rules for the 89th Texas Legislature
The House Rules govern the legislative process in the Texas House of Representatives, touching on everything from bill filing and committee procedures to debate rules and voting requirements. It is highly likely that “pro-reform” legislators will advance amendments to the rules seeking to “Ban Democrat Chairs” and change the process by which the parliamentarian interprets and the speaker enforces the rules, a politically motivated change desired by those who believe that “points of order” – a parliamentary maneuver based on arguments that the House Rules have been violated and used to challenge a bill or amendment – have been unfairly used to kill some high-profile conservative priorities in past legislative sessions. It is also possible that there will be amendments filed by legislators seeking to posture on “red meat” cultural issues, like the unsuccessful proposed rule changes filed in past legislative sessions seeking to restrict individuals to using restrooms within the Texas Capitol aligned with their biological sex as indicated on their birth certificate.
While the proposed rule changes on “red meat” issues are unlikely to be adopted, it is very possible that the Republican majority will vote to “Ban Democrat Chairs,” politicize the parliamentarian’s role in the legislative process, and diminish the usefulness of “points of order” as a tool used by members of the minority party and advocates to fight back against what they perceive as “bad bills.”
Even if one or both of these rules changes demanded by the “reform” movement are not adopted, Cook is expected to enforce similar policies if he is elected speaker, as he would have the power to appoint committee chairs, determine the makeup of committees, and hire a new parliamentarian more closely aligned with the political agenda of the “reform” movement.
Biennial Revenue Estimate
Before each regular legislative session, the Comptroller of Public Accounts provides an updated financial outlook for the state which quantifies the surplus available for legislators to spend in the budget. For the upcoming 2026-2027 biennium, the Texas Legislature is expected to have a surplus of approximately $20 billion to allocate. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will deliver the final figures in his Biennial Revenue Estimate, scheduled for imminent release.
Gov. Abbott’s Emergency Items
Finally, Abbott will announce his list of emergency items in early to mid-February. The Texas Legislature is not allowed to advance any legislation during the first 60 days of session except for bills related to the governor’s emergency items. Abbott has indicated that private school vouchers are his top priority for the upcoming legislative session and that he will name them among his emergency items. Patrick has also stated that private school vouchers are his top priority and threatened to prevent any legislation from advancing through the legislative process until voucher legislation is passed.
While vouchers have significant momentum heading into the 89th legislative session given changes in the makeup of the Texas House and the strong support of state leadership, it is unlikely that voucher legislation will be passed early in the session due to the difficulty of designing a proposal that is amenable to the strongest voucher supports while appeasing those who support “school choice” in principle but remain concerned about the potential impact on their local public school districts; the latter group includes some of the newly elected House Republicans who replaced anti-voucher Republicans but are hearing strong concerns expressed by their local public education communities.
Call to Action
Texas AFT will be well represented at the Texas Capitol during the first week of session, with local leaders and staff visiting legislators’ offices to advocate for our members’ priorities as represented in the Educator’s Bill of Rights.
With the high stakes of the 89th legislative session, we need your help holding the Texas Legislature accountable to our public school students, educators, and school employees. We invite every educator, parent, and community member who believes in our vision for a thriving public education system – from pre-K through higher education – to join us by signing on to support our Educator’s Bill of Rights and helping us bring it to the Texas Legislature in 2025.
We also invite you to join our upcoming Organizing Texas webinars, where we will talk about the challenges we face in the Texas Legislature and in our districts and the tried-and-true strategies and tactics that can help us overcome them, and encourage you to stay tuned for opportunities to advocate at the Texas Capitol, both in-person and remotely.