With the last day of the Texas Legislature only nine days away, the House under Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) has adjourned until Monday, May 21, at 1:00 p.m., potentially putting various priority legislation at risk.
Although the body previously planned to meet during the weekend, a motion by Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Lake Worth) was accepted without objection to delay readjournment till Monday afternoon.
The Senate, on the other hand, will reconvene Sunday evening at 4:00 p.m. to resume work.
Many deadlines for action are rapidly approaching, meaning that the delay of the House to resume business might cause certain bills to fail by default.
The House, under the leadership of Speaker Phelan, has been criticized throughout the session for moving slowly and failing to take action on Republican priority bills.
Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) tweeted his frustration on May 17, “One week left… @txlege still has NOT: Passed Education freedom, Passed real border security, Banned COVID mandates, Refocused energy market on reliable sources, Banned taxpayer funded lobbying, Banned DEI in college, Limited executive powers, Eliminated property taxes.”
Political commentator, Michael Sullivan, responded to Harrison, “Well, grassroots activists warned the #TxLege House Republicans this would happen if they voted for the Democrat-enabling Speaker @DadePhelan.”
Earlier in the session, the House adjourned for several long weekends, leading to additional criticisms of alleged time wasting.
Randan Steinhauser wrote on May 11, “Remember when the Texas House was taking four day weekends and adjourning like they had nothing else to do?”
“Don’t let them tell you ‘we ran out of time,’” she continued. “They knew exactly what they were doing.”
The House had also delayed organizing committees until noticeably late in session.
Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) said at the time, back in February, “When conservative bills die this session don’t let a single State Rep tell you ‘we ran out of time.’”
“Every committee in the Texas House could be organizing this week, but instead many members are going home,” he added.
Tinderholt had challenged Phelan for the speakership at the beginning of session but only received three votes, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Later in the session, on May 16, Tinderholt added, “Many of my Republican colleagues are ready to pass strong, conservative legislation coming over from the Senate.”
“Unfortunately, these bills are being slow-walked while Democrat bills take priority,” he suggested.