2026 Video Texas The Legislature

Texas Legislature session begins with Dustin Burroughs elected as House Speaker; school choice and funding debates expected.

Key Takeaways

Dustin Burroughs' election as House Speaker signals a moderate, bipartisan approach in the Texas House.
The House aims to maintain independence from Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's agenda.
School choice is a key legislative priority, but funding and implementation details remain complex.
Republican support for school choice varies between urban and rural lawmakers.
Property tax relief and education funding continue to be contentious and unresolved issues.

What the video covers

The Texas legislative session has officially started with a fast pace.
Republican Representative Dustin Burroughs was elected as the new House Speaker, surprising some due to bipartisan support.
The Texas House traditionally selects a moderate speaker supported by both parties.
Hardline conservatives, including Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, opposed Burroughs' election.
The House Speaker's role includes pushing back against the Lt. Governor and advancing House bills.
Governor Abbott prioritizes passing school choice legislation this session.
There is expected to be debate on the form and funding of school choice, including public and charter school funding.
Republicans are divided on school choice, with rural members less supportive than urban ones.
Funding challenges include the Robin Hood system, teacher pay raises, and property tax relief.
The legislative team will provide ongoing coverage and interviews with lawmakers throughout the session.

Chapters

Why was Dustin Burroughs' election as House Speaker surprising?

Burroughs' election was surprising because he secured votes from both Republicans and Democrats, indicating a moderate coalition rather than a hardline conservative choice.

What is the significance of the House Speaker's role in Texas politics?

The House Speaker leads the House, pushes back against the Lieutenant Governor, and works to get House bills passed over the Senate, playing a key role in legislative priorities.

What are the main challenges related to the school choice legislation this session?

The main challenges include deciding the form of school choice, balancing funding between public and charter schools, managing the Robin Hood funding system, and addressing divisions among Republicans.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Here's a live look at the state capital in Austin as that legislative session is officially underway. Getting off to a fast start. The House choosing Republican Representative Dustin Burroughs as its new speaker. Kind of a surprising pick for some because he had

Speaker A

quite a few Democrats lining up to help him secure the votes. And joining us in studio is Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist and Inside Texas Politics contributor Bud Kennedy. Okay.

Speaker A

Good morning. Happy New Year. Good morning. How are you? Uh, I'm good. Uh, were you surprised by the election of Dustin Burroughs as the speaker? I think if you look at it strictly by party, you might be surprised, but the Texas legislature

Speaker A

always chooses a speaker who's near the middle of the pack. For 15 years in Texas, we've had this coalition speaker with the support of both Republicans and Democrats. So, Republicans on the hardline conservatives keep trying to make the speaker more conservative. They

Speaker A

never choose the hardline conservative. Well, we heard that from the attorney general, from Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. They were not pushing for Burroughs. Does this send any kind of a message to them?

Speaker A

Yeah, I think it sends a message that the House is not going to roll over and do what the attorney general and the lieutenant governor want. I mean, that's the number one job the lieutenant of the House Speaker is to fight back against

Speaker A

the lieutenant governor and to get the House's bills passed over the Senate. So, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton actually hurt their candidate, David Cook, who's a fine lawyer in Mansfield by lobbying so hard for it. Well, Governor Abbott

Speaker A

has addressed, um, very much stressed that he wants school choice to be this session. He wants to get this passed. He wants to get this approved. How long do you think it'll take before we see them take up this issue?

Speaker A

I think they'll want to hash out exactly how to do it. I think the House will pass school choice, but the question is what form. I think that they'll want to put more money into public schools and charter schools along with it. The

Speaker A

question is not whether they'll pass school vouchers and school choice. The governor's made that clear. The question is how much more money they'll put into Texas public schools that educate millions of children.

Speaker A

And that is a tricky issue because you do have Republicans somewhat split on this issue. Rural Republicans have not been shown to be as in favor as some of the urban ones. Do you think that this is going to be a big fight or will

Speaker A

they get to it pretty quickly? I don't really think it's a big fight, but I do think it'll be a long fight just because the mechanics are so complicated. You have the Robin Hood, the funding system. How are we going to

Speaker A

pay for this? How are we going to pay? I mean, everybody wants to give teachers a pay raise. Everybody wants to get more money into the classroom. The question is, where's that money going to come from? They want to give you property tax

Speaker A

relief too. Can't do everything, Bud. Oh, every year they say they're going to fix property tax relief for good. They do, and every year they fix it again.

Speaker A

Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Bud. Good to see you. And our team's going to have coverage throughout the legislative session. You know, we're going to be on top of this.

Speaker A

This week, they sat down with some of our freshman lawmakers, and you can listen to that episode right now, wherever you get your podcast. You can watch it tonight at 8:30 on our free streaming platform, WFAA Plus.

Topics:Texas LegislatureDustin BurroughsHouse SpeakerTexas politicsschool choiceeducation fundingproperty tax reliefGovernor AbbottDan PatrickKen Paxton

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