AUSTIN — Texas House lawmakers elected Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows as speaker Tuesday, shortly after the Legislature’s 89th regular session began.
Burrows’ selection as speaker came after months of infighting among Republicans and pressure from state officials. Burrows, an attorney from Lubbock, beat out Reps. David Cook, R-Mansfield, on the second ballot. Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos, D-Richardson, was the low vote-getter on the first ballot and eliminated in the runoff.
As speaker, Burrows will hold significant power. He will appoint lawmakers to legislative committees – and select who serves as the committees’ chairs. He will also determine which bills are legislative priorities for the House and will work with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott to pass bills that touch on major topics like property tax cuts, border security and education.
Here are five things to know about Burrows.
Burrows was a close ally of Rep. Dade Phelan, serving as chair of the Calendars Committee for the two sessions Phelan served as speaker. The Calendars Committee determines which bills get a floor vote.
Phelan sought a third term as speaker for the 2025 legislative session but bowed out the day before the House Republican caucus met to select a preferred speaker candidate.
Burrows, an attorney from Lubbock, was elected to the House in 2014 and has been reelected five times.
He has chaired influential House committees since the 2019 legislative session, when he was chairman of Ways and Means, which handles bills on taxes.
Burrows also chaired the select committee that investigated the Uvalde school massacre that killed 19 students and two teachers in May 2022.
As one of the Republicans who has been a member of House leadership for several sessions, Burrows has authored key bills in recent years.
In 2019, he filed a major school finance and property tax reform bill.
During the 2023 session, he was the author of a school security bill that required schools to have at least one armed security guard on campus. The proposal came the year after the Uvalde school massacre.
Also in 2023, Burrows authored a bill known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act. Democrats and critics of the bill called it the “Death Star bill.” The law limited how cities and counties could govern.
Burrows had a controversial 2019 following that year’s legislative session.
In July 2019, shortly after the session ended, conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan accused Burrows and then-House Speaker Dennis Bonnen of trying to bribe him into targeting 10 fellow Republicans in primary elections. Sullivan later released a secret recording where Burrows could be heard listing the 10 Republicans he given the green light to target.
Those allegations resulted in a Texas Rangers investigation, Burrows’ resignation as chairman of the House GOP Caucus, and Bonnen’s departure from the Legislature.
One of the key differences between Cook and Burrows was the prospect of allowing Democrats to continue to chair committees, a practice opposed by many grassroots Republicans.
Cook said he would not appoint Democrats to lead any committee.
Burrows said in December that he prefers having the entire House vote on whether House rules should limit committee chairs to Republicans. One of the traditions of the Texas House, he previously said, is members decide the rules — not the speaker.
The House is expected to vote on the rules of the Texas House later this week.