Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives - wikipedia Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Speaker of the House of Representatives of Texas Seal of the Speaker Incumbent Joe Straus since 2009 Style The Honorable Term length Two years, no term limits Inaugural holder William Crump 1846 Formation Texas Constitution The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker 's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the House. The current speaker is Joe Straus, a Republican from San Antonio, who was first elected Speaker on January 13, 2009. Contents 1 Election 2 Duties 3 See also 4 References Election The speaker is elected from the legislature of Texas, by a vote of its fellow members. On the first day of each regular session, the members may nominate a fellow member, and a record vote is held to determine who the speaker will be. The Secretary of State calls the House to order, and presides over the chamber until a speaker is elected. Duties The speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives. The Texas Constitution requires the House of Representatives, each time a new legislature convenes, to choose one of its own members to serve as Speaker. As presiding officer, the Speaker maintains order during floor debate, recognizing legislators who wish to speak and ruling on procedural matters. The constitution also requires the Speaker to sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the legislature. As a member of the House of Representatives, the Speaker may vote on all questions before the House. The other duties and responsibilities of the Speaker are determined by the members of the house in the House Rules of Procedure, which are adopted by a majority vote of the members at the beginning of each regular session of the legislature. The members give the Speaker the authority to appoint the membership of each standing committee, subject to rules on seniority, and to designate the chair and vice chair for each committee. Under the rules, the Speaker is responsible for referring all proposed legislation to committee, subject to the committee jurisdictions set forth in the rules. The rules also allow the Speaker to appoint conference committees, to create select committees, and to direct committees to conduct interim studies when the legislature is not in session. See also Texas portal Politics portal List of Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives References Jump up ^ Specified by § 302.001 of the Texas government code. hide Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives Crump Brown Branch Crump Bourland Perkins Henderson Keenan Dickson Runnels Bee W. Taylor Locke M. Taylor Buckley Darnell Buckley M. Taylor Burford Evans Sinclair M. Taylor Bryan Bonner Cochran Reeves Gibson Foster Pendleton Alexander Milner Cochran Smith Dashiell Sherrill Prince Neff Seabury Love Kennedy Marshall Rayburn Terrell Woods Fuller Thomason Thomas Seagler Satterwhite Bobbitt Barron Minor Stevenson Calvert Morse Leonard Daniel Gilmer Reed Manford Senterfitt Lindsey Carr Turman Tunnell Barnes Mutscher Slider Price Daniel Jr. Clayton Lewis Laney Craddick Straus Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Speaker_of_the_Texas_House_of_Representatives&oldid=847470140 '' Categories : Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives Texas House of Representatives Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 25 June 2018, at 15 : 56 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who is the presiding officer of the texas house of representatives
Answer: The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives