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The Lt. Governor, as presiding officer of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives have made their committee appointments. The two committees which will be responsible for most insurance related legislation this session are the Senate Business & Commerce Committee and the House Insurance Committee.

Senate Business and Commerce

Sen. Kelly Hancock, a Republican from North Richland Hills near Dallas, returns as Chair of the committee. The Vice Chair is Robert Nichols, a Republican from Jacksonville in East Texas.

The other Republicans on the committee are Sen. Donna Campbell, Sen. Brandon Creighton, Sen. Angela Paxton and Sen. Charles Schwertner. Sen. Paxton is the only newly elected senator on the committee and is the wife of the current Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton.

The Democrats include longtime committee members Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo and Sen. John Whitmire of Houston. Sen Jose Menendez of San Antonio completes the three member Democratic representation on the committee.

House Insurance Committee

The new Chair of the committee is Rep. Eddie Lucio, Jr., a Democrat from San Benito in the Rio Grande Valley.

He is joined by fellow Democrats, Rep. Chris Turner of Fort Worth, Rep. Hubert Vo of Alief near Houston and newly elected Rep. Julie Johnson of Carrollton in the Dallas area. Representatives Turner and Vo are veterans of this committee.

The Republican appointees are headed by the Vice Chair, Rep. Tom Oliverson from Houston, and include Rep. Dennis Paul from Webster near Houston, Rep. Greg Bonnen from Galveston, Rep. Sarah Davis from Houston and Rep. Stan Lambert from Abilene. Representatives Davis and Lambert are serving on this committee for the first time.

Committee Meetings

The Senate committees have begun meeting and the House committees will begin shortly. Committee hearing schedules and agendas as well as bill information may be found at the Texas Legislature Online, https://capitol.texas.gov/Home.aspx.