Thursday night the precinct chairs of the Orange County Republican Party voted 14-6 to censure Dade Phelan who is the State Representative for Orange County from District 21 and also the Speaker of the House. District 21 also includes Jasper and parts of Jefferson County.
Some in the OCRP feel that Phelan is not representing the Republican Party values. KOGT reached out to two that were vocal against Phelan in the previous meeting and precinct chair Lydia Damrel responded.
“For those who do not know or understand the process, censuring is a tool for members of a party’s executive committee to let an elected official know that they disagree and are displeased with his/her actions in conducting the duties of the office to which he/she has been elected.
Unlike simply calling the elected official’s office, it carries more weight and if adopted and passed by the State Republican Executive Committee, can effect campaign money contributed by the state to reelection. Last primary season, censure by three of an officeholder’s six counties and censure votes scheduled in the remaining three counties persuaded one office holder to resign. Republicans have grown weary of elected officials who ignore Republican principles and the will of the people.”
She added, “Why censure Phelan? Democrat chair appointments, ignoring legislative priorities set by the convention delegates, allowing bills to die without a hearing, and promoting advocacy organizations who oppose traditional marriage. My personal grievance, not mentioned in the censure is the waste of time, money and effort by legislators during regular session that creates the need for special sessions costing more money. Try that behavior on a ‘real’ job and see how quickly you are shown the door.”
It’s worth noting that David Covey, who recently announced his intentions to challenge Phelan in the next election, is listed as one of the 64 members who make up the SREC. Also his father, Mark, is one of the precinct chairs for the Orange County Republican Party, Micah Covey is Vice-President and Katie Covey is Secretary.
OCRP Chairman Leo LaBauve, who voted against the censure, said “I’m disappointed. I believe Dade Phelan has done a good job as Speaker and as representative for Orange County and for District 21.”
Cait Whitman, Communications Director for Speaker Phelan, told KOGT, “Tonight’s action was nothing more than an orchestrated effort to undermine a Speaker and State Representative who has refused to bend to the will of West Texas billionaires seeking control of House district 21, the House chamber, and our state party. It should be noted that as 14 individuals worked to pass this resolution (in a county of over 80,000 Texans), Dade Phelan was in Austin ushering an $18 billion property tax cut over the finish line in order to deliver the largest property tax cut in state history on behalf of his constituents. This is yet another victory in a long list of conservative achievements this session – achievements that are well in line with the priorities of our local Republican parties. Rep. Phelan looks forward to continuing to fight for the best interests of Orange County, champion conservative causes and deliver results on behalf of House District 21.”
-Gary Stelly, KOGT-
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KOGT obtained a copy of the OCRP resolution to censure the Speaker and Speaker Phelan responded in italics.
WHEREAS, On February 8, 2023, Speaker Phelan appointed nine Democratic chairs to House committees in violation of RPT Legislative Priority #5 – No Democratic Chairs. The Democrats assigned to committee chairs included: Oscar Longoria – Business & Industry, Abel Herrero – Corrections, Victoria Neave Criado – County Affairs, Joseph Moody – Criminal Jurisprudence, Harold V. Dutton – Juvenile Justice & Family Issues, Tracy King – Natural Resources, R. D. “Bobby” Guerra – Resolutions Calendars, Terry Canales – Transportation, and Senfronia Thompson – Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety; and
It has been my pleasure to represent you in the legislature since January of 2015. For the past two legislative sessions, I have served as Speaker of the Texas House.
One of the roles of Speaker is to appoint committee chairs. For over fifty years now, members of the minority party in both the House and Senate have received committee chairmanships. In fact, the practice began when the Democrats controlled both chambers. Accordingly, each session we have served in our respective roles, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and I have appointed members of the minority party to be committee chairs. The Lt. Governor did so this past session as well. Now to be clear, I don’t think you should censure the Lt. Governor either.
Why has every Republican presiding officer of either chamber since reconstruction adopted this practice? Well, the first reason is that it takes 100 votes to amend the Texas Constitution. And as it turns out, many important legislative measures require the passage of a constitutional amendment. Without Democrat participation in these amendments, none of them would pass either chamber.
Additionally, we need look no further than Washington DC to see what happens when both parties refuse to work with each other and have no incentive to do so. Important legislation dies, and the legislative process is reduced to backroom deals and procedural tricks.
WHEREAS, On May 9, 2023, Speaker Phelan allowed H.B. 20 to die by sustaining a spurious point of order, in violation of RPT Legislative Priority #2 – Secure the Border and Protect Texans. H.B. 20 would have created a Border Protection Unit under the control of the State of Texas to “arrest, apprehend, or detain persons crossing the Texas-Mexico border unlawfully,” and invoked Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution to authorize this unit to return aliens to Mexico who have been observed crossing the border unlawfully and to use force to repel, arrest, and detain known transnational cartel operatives in the border region, among other duties. H.B. 20 was identified as a priority by the Speaker himself, but at his sole discretion, he accepted a point of order raised by a Democratic Representative on a matter of opinion regarding the caption of the bill, which prevented the bill from ever being voted on in the House; and
It is the role of the Speaker to rule fairly on the hundreds of points of order that members raise during the legislative process. Regarding HB 20 specifically, a significant element of the bill was not included in the caption for the bill. These captions exist by rule and by law in order for the public to have a reasonable notice of what the bill does.
I was very frustrated when this bill failed. The House led on the issue of border security this session. The House secured $5.1 billion in new funding for our efforts to secure our southern border. We labeled the Cartel as a terrorist organization, and we cracked down on human trafficking and fentanyl smuggling efforts. When it comes to HB 20 specifically, there was no companion bill even filed in the Senate for this legislation. If the Senate had joined us in making the bill a priority, there would have been another way to pass the measure when the initial bill ran into procedural problems. But to be clear, I don’t think you should censure them either.
Simply put, the rules are the rules, and it is my duty to enforce them. I will not play favorites even if it means that legislation important to me personally dies in the process. I look forward to passing this legislation next session. We’ll even let the bill start in the Senate, if that makes them feel better.
WHEREAS, Throughout the session, Speaker Phelan refused to comment in support of RPT Legislative Priority #8 – Parental Rights and Educational Freedom, despite the passionate advocacy by Governor Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on behalf of this issue. While Speaker Phelan’s appointments to the Public Education Committee initially offered hope that the issue would be given a fair hearing in the House, no educational freedom bill ever passed from committee. When H.B. 100, the school finance reform bill that would have enacted school allotment increases for public schools across Texas, went to conference committee with the Senate, Speaker Phelan appointed conferees who were known to oppose educational freedom. These conferees allowed H.B. 100 to die, preventing any increase in allotted funds to public schools and teacher pay, rather than accept a Senate proposal that would have enacted an Education Savings Account program; and
The legislative process is just that: a process. It is far easier for a bill to die than for it to pass. And as conservatives, I think we can all agree that this situation is a good thing. The fewer laws the better.
Negotiations are a natural part of the legislative process. On the issue of school choice, for years, there were no negotiations on this issue at all. My predecessor as Speaker labeled the issue of school choice (or as he put it, vouchers) dead on arrival. No school choice measure even received a hearing under his tenure.
During this term, we went from there being no conversation in the House about school choice to a situation where members were negotiating with the Governor over the number of students who would be eligible for the program. The Governor made it clear that he did not think the plan considered by the Education Committee covered enough students and said he would veto the measure if it reached his desk. To be clear, I don’t think you should censure him either.
There is likely to be another Special Session this fall where the legislature will take up this question again. Stay tuned.
WHEREAS, During the 88th legislative session, Speaker Phelan has repeatedly violated Texas GOP Core Principle #6: “Self-sufficient families, founded on the traditional marriage of a natural man and a natural woman,” by promoting advocacy organizations who have opposed traditional marriage and advocated against Republican Party of Texas Legislative Priority #3 – Ban Gender Modification of Children and Priority #4 – Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids:
On March 8, 2023, Speaker Phelan allowed passage of H.R. 155, which recognized February 14, 2023, as Texas LGBTQ Chambers of Commerce Advocacy Day at the State Capitol. The organizations honored in H.R. 155 have sponsored a “digital advocacy toolkit” to aid unruly protestors in opposing numerous important Republican bills and have made statements attacking Republicans and even Democratic Representatives who stood courageously against sexualization and gender transition of children.
On February 22, 2023, Speaker Phelan allowed passage of H.R. 294 recognizing February 22, 2023, as Texas Latinx Judges Day at the State Capitol at the State Capitol; according to the text of the resolution, the word “Latinx” was specifically used to include jurists who are “nonbinary” despite the overwhelming rejection of this term by Spanish speaking Texans.
On February 28, 2023, Speaker Phelan allowed H.R. 85, honoring the plaintiffs who sued in Federal Court to overturn the State of Texas Constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriage, to be referred to the Resolutions Calendars committee. This resolution was buried within a large packet of resolutions in a deliberate attempt to conceal the nature of this resolution. H.R. 85 was withdrawn only after a letter was sent from the Republican Party of Texas to the House Republican Caucus objecting to this action; and
As Speaker, I do not have the power simply to strike a bill or resolution from the calendar. And as conservatives, you should be glad that I don’t have that kind of power. I am not sure what this censure article suggests that I should have done in these instances.
Here is what the House did do this session: Banned pornographic books in school libraries, protected kids from manipulation and sexualization by social media companies, banned gender mutilation surgeries of minors, banned drag show performances in front of children, and banned male athletes from competing in collegiate sports designated for women.
WHEREAS, the term of office for Speaker Dade Phelan expires after the 2024 Primary and General Elections, and he would be eligible to run for re-election to his House seat in the 2024 elections and eligible to run for any other partisan office in the 2024 elections;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Republican Party Executive Committee, after notice and invitation to Speaker Dade Phelan to appear and be provided time to speak before the Orange County Executive Committee, adopts this resolution under Republican Party of Texas Rule 44 to censure Speaker Dade Phelan for three (3) or more actions taken during the current biennium in opposition to the core principles of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) as defined in the Preamble of the Party Platform, as described in Rule No. 43A, or to the Legislative Priorities adopted at the most recent State Convention as described in Rule 34(c); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Republican Party Executive Committee requests that the Republican Party of Texas concur with this resolution of censure and impose both penalties identified in Rule 44 on Speaker Dade Phelan as follows:
1. No Rule or Bylaw enacted by any division of the Party at any level that demands the Party be neutral in intraparty contests shall be observed with respect to Speaker Phelan, and no financial or other support shall be provided to his campaign by the Party except that which is required by law. If Speaker Phelan files an application to run for any public office in the 2024 Republican Party Primary, the SREC shall be authorized to spend up to twelve percent (12%) of the Party’s general fund on voter education in the state of Texas, by republishing this censure resolution verbatim, using a media format determined by the SREC.
2. Speaker Dade Phelan is discouraged from participating in the 2024 Republican Party Primary; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that nothing in this Resolution shall be construed to prohibit the use of Party resources to encourage voting for Republican Party nominees or officeholders collectively, so long as Speaker Dade Phelan is not identified by name.
During my time as Speaker, we have passed constitutional carry, outlawed abortion in the state, strengthened the integrity of the ballot box, cracked down on rogue D.A.s, banned males from competing in female sports from kindergarten through college, banned CRT in our school classrooms, banned gender mutilation procedures, prohibited sexual performances-like drag shows-in front of our children, sent billions of dollars to the border to enhance our state operations, took pornography out of the school libraries, and just today, cut property taxes- by the largest amount in Texas history.
I am proud of our conservative record, and I am proud to represent you.
Sincerely,
Dade Phelan
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