On the first day of session, incumbent Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, was unanimously re-elected to his fifth consecutive term as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

A long-term supporter of public education, Straus said on opening day, “Our school finance system may meet the legal definition of constitutional. But parents and taxpayers know something different. They know that the system is broken. And, they know that it’s our job to fix it.”

One of his main goals is to reduce recapture payments school districts make to the state, a key priority for HISD this session.