Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows has released his committee assignments. The House may finally start assigning bills to committees and getting to work on the Governor’s emergency items.
The House Elections Committee will be chaired by Republican Matt Shaheen. Shaheen has been in the Texas House since 2015 when he took the place of Rep. Van Taylor when he left his seat in the House for one in the Senate. He does not, however, have experience on the Elections Committee or with election legislation, except for a handful of bills over the years.
Chairman Shaheen received a perfect score on the Fiscal Responsibility Index for his first two terms in the House, but since then his scores have dropped to 85 in 2019, 80 in 2021, and 71 in 2023. That is still a whopping 20 points higher than the previous Elections Committee Chair, Reggie Smith, however. The Index concentrates on fiscal responsibility, but the scores tend to match up on other issues as well.
Unlike Chairman Shaheen, Democrat Vice-Chair John Bucy has experience, he’s been a member of the Elections Committee since 2019. In his case, though, experience does not make him a good choice in the eyes of election integrity advocates. The argument could easily be made that Bucy is the biggest threat to election integrity in the Texas House. Each session he files over a dozen election bills, from same-day voter registration to electronic and universal voting by mail, that would greatly compromise the accuracy and security of Texas elections.
The three other Democrats on the committee are Representatives Penny Morales Shaw, Miheala Elizabeth Plesa, and Richard Pena Raymond. They have very little experience with election legislation and will likely just provide backup to Vice-Chair Bucy.
The remaining committee members are four Republicans, making the Republican majority just one vote. Representatives Carrie Isaac, Valoree Swanson, Steve Toth, and Terry Wilson have 2023 Fiscal Index scores of 80, 74, 94, and 82 respectively. Rep. Swanson has extensive experience on the Elections Committee and she and Rep. Toth have filed numerous bills that would enhance election integrity.
The two key words for election integrity activists this session, and every session, are realistic and strategic. Set realistic goals and expectations and use cunning strategy to get there.
Get involved with Advancing Integrity to learn more.