After current House Speaker Dade Phelan dropped his bid to keep the gavel in early December, one member of his leadership team, Representative Dustin Burrows of Lubbock entered the race pitting himself against Representative David Cook of Mansfield.

The void is set to be filled by either Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock or Rep. David Cook of Mansfield. Experts told KHOU 11 the choice could determine how the House — and the GOP in the chamber — moves forward this session. Either candidate would need 76 votes to secure control of the gavel.

Legislators are flocking to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday for the first day of what will likely be a four-month battle to get their legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. With the return of Texas House and Texas Senate members to Austin—and over 2,

A fight has been brewing over who will lead the Texas House as Speaker. Two Republicans are the leading candidates for Speaker: David Cook of Mansfield and Dustin Burrows of Lubbock.

The Texas Legislature meets every two years to introduce bills that it hopes will become law. Over 1,636 house bills have been submitted so far.

The state of Texas has a big budget surplus, nearly $24 billion. Some lawmakers want to focus on giving homeowners more property tax relief and others want to spend some of the surplus on the key infrastructure needs.