House committees were finally announced last week. Mike Hailey, a reporter with establishment ties in Austin, made a lot of predictions about the appointments which we will examine.
Writing after the state GOP convention in June of 2012, Hailey floated that Jodie Laubenberg had turned on conservatives by supporting Joe Straus for Speaker in exchange for a plum committee assignment. Laubenberg publicly announced her allegiance shift in November. Too bad for her, the rumored kickback never materialized.
Hailey also predicted that Phil King and Dan Flynn would benefit greatly by joining Team Straus. Wrong again. The veteran King isn’t even co-chairing a committee, much less chairing one, and Flynn was left out in the cold, too.
Our advice: get your silver pieces in advance next time.
Really these moves by Straus are quite logical. Why would you want to empower legislators you hope to shortly replace? They are now legislators without a home, primed to be replaced by candidates without a conservative reputation holding them back.
There were two conservative members elevated to standing committee chair posts by Straus – Tan Parker and Geanie Morrison. Hailey predicted the Parker appointment, but not Morrison.
The original redistricting map forced Morrison out of her seat as she was paired with powerful cardinal Todd Hunter. Morrison had a good chance of winning the seat but bowed out, only to get her district back when the courts redrew the lines.
Some establishment Republicans were passed over for advancement.
Ralph Sheffield, a vice chair in 2011, could have moved up. Sheffield has been an ardent supporter of Straus, but after the 2011 session Sheffield was frank about the Speaker’s vindictive approach to conservative members of his own caucus.
Then, Sheffield performed poorly in his last election against an underfunded challenge from the right. Straus keeping Sheffield un-chaired helps protect against another routing of his committee chairs in the 2014 primary.
By contrast, Freshmen Representatives Drew Springer and Ken King showed that freshmen can get exactly what they ask for. Each West Texas member was given the assignment he wanted.
Link to Amarillo article