Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan this week laid out his top priority bills for the 88th Legislative session. Phelan, a Republican from Beaumont, is in his second term at the helm of the House.
Texas Tribune senior managing editor Ayan Mittra said that, in addition to Republican-backed bills like giving parents more control over their kids’ online activity and cracking down on “predatory algorithms” in tech, Phelan has also voiced support for Democrat-led efforts – including Medicaid expansion for new mothers.
“This was kind of following up on his theme of a little bit more of a bipartisan nature than maybe some might see in other parts of the Legislature,” Mittra said.
Phelan backed a similar measure to expand Medicaid for new moms last session, but that was reduced to 6 months by the Senate. Gov. Greg Abbott has also voiced support for the current push to extend benefits to 12 months postpartum.
Listen in the audio player above for more stories from this week in Texas politics.
