For Immediate Release
Austin, TX – January 14, 2025: The 89th biennial session of the Texas Legislature starts today to pass new laws and decide how to spend the state’s money for the next two years.
While the focus for the next 140 days will be on new state laws, the first order of business is for the Texas House to vote on a new Texas Speaker of the House. Current Texas Speaker Dade Phelan announced late last year, that he would not be seeking another term. There are two Republicans claiming to have won the Speaker race; Republican State Representative David Cook, who won the Texas House Republican Caucus vote in December and Republican State Representative Dustin Burrows, who claims he has the votes to win after taking his support outside the party to recruit 38 Democrats to support him in his race for Speaker. For more information about the race, visit our website.
Jonathan Saenz, Attorney and President for Texas Values said:
“In my twenty years of Texas law and policy, I’ve never seen a more “all gas, no brakes” attitude and approach as we see today for the start of the 2025 Texas Legislative Session. With Trump in the White House and a new generation of results-focused Republican Texas House members, the values of faith, family, and freedom are finally getting a chance of a lifetime to fulfill the will of the voters.”
Jonathan Saenz, President and Attorney, Texas Values – arguably the most widely recognized Texas figure and voice since 2005 on faith, family, freedom and pro-life law and policy issues.
- Founder of Texas Values in 2012, after serving as Legislative Director for First Liberty Institute from 2007-2012.
- Licensed Texas attorney for 20 years; worked on court cases at every level including serving at the U. S. Supreme Court as a lawyer for Gianna Jessen, a famous pro-life advocate.
- 2024 RNC Delegate At-Large, attended the RNC event in Milwaukee and was featured in over 20 local and national media interviews while at the RNC.
- Has worked in and around the Texas Capitol during every Texas Legislative Session since 2005. Testified in hundreds of Texas House and Senate Committee hearings.
- Led the Texas Heartbeat law to passage, and three different religious freedom laws in 2021, and helped defeat gambling and Ban The Bible/LGBT Priority bills in 2023.
- Graduate of The University of Texas, B.A., and the University of Houston Law Center, J.D. (Two-Time recipient of the UH Public Interest Law Fellowship Award)
- Substantial experience in state election matters and has been a Republican Party of Texas state delegate in every cycle since 2012.
- Catholics for Ted Cruz for President Leadership Team, 2016
- Host of the weekly radio show and podcast “The Texas Values Report” for the past 7+ years with notable guests such as Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Franklin Graham, Michele Tafoya, Senator Ted Cruz, God’s Not Dead Producer/Star David A.R. White, Kirk Cameron, NCAA swimming champion Riley Gaines, and Sage Steele, among many others.
- Featured in top TV, print, radio, and digital media with thousands of interviews to his credit, including Newsmax, Victory News, Fox News, CNN, USA Radio, Austin-American Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and EWTN, among many others.
- While Jonathan is arguably the most widely recognized voice in the state of Texas for the past two decades on religious freedom and pro-life laws, due to his experience, he can speak beyond these issues as well, typically from a Christian Conservative, Texas-focused viewpoint.
Jonathan Covey, Director of Policy, Texas Values:
- Worked as Texas Capitol staffer from 2015-2020
- Served as Texas Values Policy Director since 2020
- Widely known for his work on leading the effort on banning child gender modification (SB 14) in the state of Texas.
- Graduate of Thomas Edison State University, B.B.A; and Oak Brook College of Law, J.D.
- Featured in top media: CBS Austin, Austin American-Statesman, and Terry Lowry: The What’s Up Radio Program, among many others.
Mary Elizabeth Castle, Director of Government Relations, Texas Values:
- Led the efforts to pass Save Girls Sports (HB) and Save Women’s Sports (SB 15) in the state of Texas.
- Texas Values Policy Team Member since 2018, Director of Government Relations from 2022-current.
- Previously worked under Kelly Shackelford at First Liberty Institute.
- Graduate of SMU, B.A.; and Texas Tech Law School, J.D.
- Adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas
- Sought after to speak at venues across the state of Texas/United States including the Texas GOP Convention and the national Pro-life Women’s Conference (PLWC).
- Featured in top media such as CBS Austin, The Daily Signal, and The Dallas Morning News, among many others.
Megan Benton, Strategic Policy Associate, Texas Values
- University of Texas Graduate
- Former President of Turning Point USA, University of Texas Chapter
- Started working as an intern before coming on full time as Strategic Policy Associate for Texas Values
- Worked the 88th Legislative Session and had a substantial role in passing Save Women’s Sports Law
Texas Values, the largest faith, family, and freedom policy organization in the state, has an office directly across from the State Capitol Building and will have staff members on-site during opening day and every day during the session, and has had someone present and working at the Texas Capitol during every Texas Legislative Session since 2013.
Over 1,500 bills and resolutions have already been pre-filed by new and returning legislators, who will be sworn in prior to a Speaker of the House being elected.
Texas Values law & policy team are available for comment. Please contact Ashley at media@txvalues.org or 737-314-2450 (m) to schedule an interview.
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About Texas Values
Texas Values is the largest statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to standing for faith, family, and freedom in Texas. More information is available at txvalues.org.