By Cyrus Reed, Legislative and Conservation Director
And they're off!
Who you ask? Well the 89th legislative session, the 140-day, every-other year legislative run to see what legislative proposals make it to the finish line - the Governor’s desk.
Who is the Speaker of the House?
On Tuesday, 150 Texas House of Representatives were sworn in as official elected representatives and immediately got to work fighting over who would be their “Speaker of the House,” the most powerful member who assigns members to committees, including chairs, and generally helps direct the daily events at the capitol.
Speaker Candidates: David Cook, Ana Maria Ramos, and Dustin Burrows
Squaring off were three candidates:
- David Cook: A Republican backed by newer “Trump” Republicans and pro-private school voucher billionaires.
- Ana Maria Ramos: A progressive Democrat from Dallas, with slim chances given political dynamics.
- Dustin Burrows: A Republican attorney from Lubbock, supported by established Republicans and current Speaker Dade Phelan.
For the record, it has been many, many legislative sessions since we had multiple candidates running.
The Redshirts Arrive at the Capitol

The Redshirts are here! Texans supporting conservative candidate David Cook came prepared with shirts that declared “Ban Democratic Chairs”
This was Dustin Burrows office until Wednesday in the basement of the capitol, when he began moving into the much bigger Speaker office on the first floor of the Capitol.
Some of us watched the final vote from the friendly confines of Rep Rafael Anchia’s (D-Dallas) office.
Inside the Vote for Speaker of the House
The stakes were high. On the one hand, the new wing of the Republican party, aligned with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, called for change. Hundreds of supporters wearing red shirts arrived, advocating to “Ban Democratic Chairs.”
On the other hand, Burrows aimed to continue the current leadership style, maintaining balance between Senate and House decision-making.
The Vote Breakdown:
- First Round: Burrows received 71 votes, Cook 55, and Ramos 23.
- Second Round: Burrows won with 85 votes, Cook kept 55, and nine Democrats abstained.
The stakes were high. On the one hand, the new wing of the Republican party was calling for change from the previous leadership team and were closely aligned with the Lt. Governor - Dan Patrick - head of the senate and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Also at the capitol were hundreds of individuals who arrived from all over Texas, but especially from North Texas, many of them wearing red t-shirts stating “Ban Democratic Chairs,” a reference to normal Texas practice of having both Republican and Democratic chairs of Committee. While they claimed that David Cook was going to listen to every member and have a less-speaker controlled house, most believe it would have largely allowed a majority rule with a lot of input from the Senate -tightly controlled by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. In other words, key priorities of the Senate like school vouchers and property tax relief would have an easier time passing the house.
On the other hand, David Burrows was likely to continue the current leadership style of the house, where the Speaker through his appointments and operations of the Calenders Committee often controls which bills move forward. In practical terms, it means the outcome of bills can be very different in the House than the Senate. Examples in recent years include the failure for a school voucher bill to move forward in the House, or the famous bathroom bill from several sessions ago.
Finally there were the Democrats, who were being courted by both potential speakers, but are the minority party. New caucus chair Gene Wu, a democrat from Houston, asked that members not support Cook, so aligned with the more conservative wing of the party but did not ask them to support Burrows.

The vote took two rounds and about two hours with several delays and speeches from those nominating the members. In the first round, Burrows received 71 votes - less than the majority needed - while Cook received 55 and Ramos 23 votes. The only Democrat supporting Cook in the first round was Richard Raymond, a Democrat from Laredo who often votes with Republicans. The second round showed that the majority of Democrats chose to side with Burrows, who won as speaker with 85 votes, Cook maintained his 55 votes - including two Democrats - while nine democrats chose to not vote at all. One member was absent.
The next day Burrows was busy moving his office from the basement of the capitol to the first floor, while previous speaker Dade Phelan was moving in the opposite direction. By Wednesday, the house had passed its rules for the session though it will likely be three to four weeks before the new Speaker names the committees.
What the Speakers Election Means for Texas
While Sierra Club did not take a position officially in the speaker’s race, the election of Dustin Burrows is generally a better outcome given that his leadership team is more likely to work with democratic members and create more of a buffer to a more conservative Senate. In the last legislative session, Dustin Burrows scored a 41% on our legislative scorecard, while David Cook scored a 21%. That being said, the Sierra Club will work with any members who support our efforts on clean air, clean water, clean energy, sustainable water solutions and water quality and climate resilient solutions. As a non-partisan organization, we recognize that only with bipartisan, bicameral support can we pass meaningful legislation.
What’s Happening in the Senate?
As is usually the case, there is little drama in the Senate. The Senate only met twice this week for roughly an hour and took one important step - renaming the committees that would be working, including a decision to divide the Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development, into two different committees - one on Natural Resources and one on Economic Development. The Senate won’t meet again until next Wednesday but in the meantime it is expected that Lt Governor Dan Patrick will name the committees in the coming days. On Friday, Dan Patrick named the committee membership with very few surprises. A complete list can be found here.
Have Any Big Bills Been Filed?
This is the period when interest groups, including the Sierra Club, urge representatives and senators to file bills on key issues. As of mid-week, approximately 2,600 bills had been filed.
When Will Committee Hearings Start?
No hearings can occur until committees are named and bills are referred to them. The earliest hearing date is February 14, except for the budget bill, which may be considered earlier.
Texas State Budget Overview
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced a Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) of $362.2 billion for the 2026-27 budget cycle, enabling large investments if there is political will. In addition, there is expected to be roughly $28 billion in the so-called “Rainy Day Fund,” money that is set aside for emergencies in the “Economic Stabilization Fund.”
Thus, the state should be able to make large investments in many priorities - if there is political will.
Legislative Priorities and Bills
It is very hard to predict whether bills filed thus far have a good chance of making it through the process. Last session, only 15 % of the bills that were filed actually were passed by both houses and signed by (or allowed to go into effect without a veto) the Governor. It is likely with so many bills already filed, it could even be less this time.
That being said, as you can tell by our public bill tracker - found here - we are already tracking some 90 bills, many of which we like, some we don’t and some we are watching and wondering if they might be good or bad.
For more information about our Legislative Agenda, download this PDF guide.
Sierra Club-Supported Bills
- SB 783 / HB 1360 - Updating energy codes for new construction.
- HB 1341 - Better regulation of hydrogen sulfide emissions.
- HB 1285 - Allowing drones for oil and gas facility inspections.
- HB 1576 - Creating a grant program for communities impacted by hurricanes.
Some of our legislative priorities have already been filed. As an example, Senator Jose Menendez - SB 783 - and Rep Ana Hernandez - HB 1360 - refiled a bill that would require the State Energy Conservation Office to begin rulemaking to update our minimum energy codes for new construction of homes and commercial buildings. It is a bill that passed two years ago, only to be vetoed by the Governor. We fully support this effort to reduce energy use in our buildings.

Rep Ron Reynolds introduced an important bill to better regulate emissions of hydrogen sulfide - that nasty egg smell found outside oil and gas field - HB 1341 - while Rep Charlie Geren has filed an important bill to allow drones to be used by the Texas Railroad Commission to inspect oil and gas facilities for compliance issues - HB 1285.
Rep Ron Reynolds (D-Fort Bend County) has filed some important bills related to Sierra Club priorities.
Reynolds has also filed bills to increase the minimum construction codes for buildings in cities (HB 871) and counties (HB 882) to be more resilient to extreme weather and reduce insurance costs . These are Sierra Club priorities.
An important idea was introduced by Rep Tom Oliverson to create a grant program to help coastal and other communities ravaged by hurricanes and high winds rebuild and fortify their homes. Modeled on a program in Alabama known as "Fortified Roofs,” it's an important idea to help Texans build back better (and hopefully reduce insurance costs). HB 1576 is worth consideration.
Concerning Bills
But there are also many bills that concern us - particularly bills that are aimed to make it more difficult to build and operate renewable energy resources and utility-scale storage facilities. Texas is now the nation’s leader on wind, solar and storage technologies, and several members seem intent on making it harder to maintain that leadership, which also helps reduce emissions and lowers electricity costs (since wind and solar fuel costs are literally zero). One of the Sierra Club’s biggest legislative priorities this year will be assuring that renewable and storage energy continues to prosper. While some reasonable safety and siting considerations should be considered, many of these proposals seem aimed instead at simply making the resource expensive or creating prohibitions to building at all.
While this is not a full list, a few bills that would increase costs and obligations on renewable energy and storage include:

- SB 819 - Kolkhorst, Lois. Relating to renewable energy generation facilities. This wide-ranging bill would substantially limit renewable energy production in many areas of the state by creating minimum distances from any structure, create a permitting regime at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and eliminate all property tax incentives for renewable energy. It is a burdensome bill in the name of conservation that undermines property rights, and will increase electricity costs.
- HB 553 - Patterson, Jared: Relating to the permitting of renewable energy generation facilities by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (this is a burdensome bill similar in scope to SB 819).
- SB 388 - King, Phil: Relating to the legislature's goals for electric generation capacity in this state (this bill would limit the growth of renewable energy).
- HB 1343 - Troxclair, Ellen: Relating to the issuance by the Public Utility Commission of Texas of a permit for the installation of certain electric energy storage equipment or facilities (this bill would add burdensome permitting requirements on storage facilities).
- SB 383 - Middleton: Relating to prohibiting interconnection of an offshore wind power facility (this bill would effectively ban the connection of future offshore wind in Texas to the larger grid).
- HB 1378 - Virdell, Wes: Relating to municipal and county regulation of certain electric energy storage (this bill prescriptively directs counties to adopt ordinances that would create required distances of 500 yards for any storage facilities from certain types of property and is overly restrictive).
- SB 714 - Sparks, Kevin: Relating to electricity pricing rules and operating procedures that eliminate or compensate for market distortion caused by certain federal tax credits. (This bill would require the PUCT and ERCOT to change rules to try and make renewable energy that receives certain federal tax credits from essentially pay a surcharge which ultimately will create a rise in costs to consumers)
- SB 715 - Sparks, Kevin. Relating to the applicability of certain generation reliability requirements. This bill would require the PUCT to create new “firming” requirements on all renewable energy projects so they would have to contract with gas plants or storage facilities to “Firm” up their power, again increasing costs on renewable energy and ultimately on all consumers.
One more interesting bill is HB 1808, filed by Brook Landgraf from Odessa, which would direct the Railroad Commission to develop additional rules on the use of so-called “produced” water in the oil and gas field but also offsite for beneficial reuse.
Representatives of Sierra Club and Public Citizen had a good meeting with Senator Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas), who is likely to file important bills related to solar and energy efficiency programs this session.
How You Can Get Involved this Session
First, let your legislator know that you support our legislative agenda and priorities. Now is when we need to tell our legislators that we want clean energy, clean air, clean water, and climate resilient solutions.
Next, join our legislative team by entering your information here. We will contact you to join our biweekly meetings if you want.
Third, come to one of our future lobby days and legislative drop-offs. We expect to schedule one the first week of February - you can sign up here to receive alerts!