Tensions in the Texas House are boiling over as yet another Local & Consent (L&C) Calendar was derailed Friday, the latest casualty in an increasingly bitter cold war between House leadership, conservative Republicans, and Democrats.
What is traditionally a routine process — quickly advancing large batches of local and uncontested bills — has now been caught in the crossfire of a larger battle over legislative power and ideological priorities. For the second time in a week, lawmakers failed to move forward on the L&C docket, further imperiling the tight timeline of the 2025 legislative session, which now has less than 40 days remaining.
The latest disruption stems from a confrontation that began last week, when a seemingly benign resolution honoring Cecile Richards, the former Planned Parenthood CEO who passed away earlier this year, sparked outrage among some conservative members. What started as isolated objections quickly cascaded into a broader standoff.
Under L&C rules, it takes just five members to pull a bill from consideration — a low threshold that became a potent weapon in the emerging factional struggle. Last Thursday, conservatives retaliated for previous defeats on budget amendments by killing three bills authored by state Rep. Mary González (D-Clint). In response, Democrats struck back, tanking every Republican bill on the calendar before conservatives finished off the remainder.
The cycle repeated itself Friday as conservatives once again used their leverage to grind the calendar to a halt, joined by Democrats who exercised their own strategic power.
At the heart of the conservative rebellion is frustration over the slow movement of Republican Party of Texas (RPT) legislative priorities. These include banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, prohibiting land sales to hostile foreign nations, and mandating paper ballots for elections. Although the House Homeland Security Committee advanced a land-purchase ban Thursday night, the conservative bloc remains restless, emboldened by more than a dozen members strong — enough to bring L&C proceedings to a standstill.
Their influence is backed by growing impatience from the Texas GOP leadership, which recently blasted a mass text message across the state threatening to recruit and fund primary challengers against House Republicans who fail to deliver on the party's platform.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are wielding their own numbers — 62 members in the 150-member chamber — to block constitutional amendments that require a two-thirds supermajority (100 votes) for passage. Their tactic of "white-lighting" — voting "present not voting" — has already delayed several high-profile Republican efforts, including amendments on property tax relief and bail reform.
Initially, Democrats used their leverage to demand a statewide referendum on education savings accounts (ESAs), a proposal that ultimately passed and is now headed to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. But even after that concession, Democrats show little inclination to relinquish their newfound influence, and leaders are still deciding how best to leverage their numbers in the waning days of session.
Unlike L&C bills, which can be rerouted through the regular Calendars Committee — albeit with significant delays — constitutional amendments have no procedural escape hatch. The GOP must negotiate with Democrats if they hope to pass any such measures this session.
Ultimately, Friday’s calendar collapse spared only two bills, authored by Reps. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) and Oscar Longoria (D-Mission), who had notably refrained from white-lighting a joint resolution earlier in the week. All other measures were shunted over to the main Calendars Committee, trading procedural efficiency for a grinding, time-consuming slog.
House leadership now finds itself boxed in from both sides: needing at least a dozen Democratic votes to pass critical constitutional amendments while also placating an increasingly restive conservative faction that’s larger and more emboldened than ever before.
.jpg)
.jpg)
