House and Senate off until Tuesday

The House and Senate adjourned for a long weekend Wednesday, both chambers not reconvening until Tuesday. But behind-the-scenes activity continues, and Senate committee assignments could be released as early as today.

The Senate Education Committee should look somewhat similar to its interim iteration, which differed from the 2021 session version after its chair, Larry Taylor, announced his retirement and the committee was combined with the Higher Education Committee. Interim chair Brandon Creighton, previously the chair of the Higher Education Committee, was named the interim chair and is expected to continue helming the merged committee. Several members of the 2021 committee will not be returning due to retirement so we expect to see some new faces.

Your TCTA lobby team are spending their days at the Capitol meeting with legislators and staff, with our conversations focusing primarily on how best to address the teacher shortage issue through improved compensation, benefits, and working conditions. We have also been dropping off "Save the Date" cards for the upcoming TCTA Capitol Visit in conjunction with our Feb. 10-11 convention.