Rep. Clardy makes bid for House speaker job
East Texas Republican is fifth lawmaker vying to succeed Joe Straus.
State Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, announced Monday he intends to run for Texas House speaker.
Clardy, an attorney, represents Cherokee, Nacogdoches and Rusk counties and was first elected to the House in 2012. Clardy is vice chairman of the Local and Consent Calendars Committee and a member of the Energy Resources and Higher Education committees.
He would succeed House Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican who is retiring, if he wins the post. Clardy faces three other Republicans: John Zerwas of Richmond, Phil King of Weatherford and Tan Parker of Flower Mound. State Rep. Eric Johnson of Dallas is the only Democrat officially running for speaker.
Clardy said public education funding and property tax relief are among his top priorities. The lawmaker also wants the House to be known for “what we’re for and what we believe in,” he told the American-Statesman on Monday.
“It’s my intention to have a member-driven House,” Clardy said, alluding to the 2017 legislative session and special session, which were marked by open fights between the House and Senate and rifts between lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott. “We seemed to be defined by others, by what we were against or opposed to.”
House Republicans have agreed to meet in December, before the next regular session
More than a decade in the making, the Austin Sobering Center will open its doors Thursday on a limited basis. The facility, at 1213 Sabine St., the site of the former Travis County medical examiner’s facility, will give law enforcement and emergency medical staffers an alternative place to bring intoxicated people, rather than to the jail or a hospital.
Services will be free of charge. Officials have said the center will give people a safe place to sober up and, for those in need of treatment, help with finding support services. It will also cut down the costs of jail bookings and unnecessary emergency room visits, officials have said.
The center will be open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday through Saturday until Oct. 1, when it will launch 24/7 hours.