House Speaker Dade Phelan selected Democrats to chair eight of the 34 standing committees, down from the 13 he appointed at the start of the last legislative session.
Patrick has made no qualms in the past about bending arms or using public pressure to get other state officials including Gov. Greg Abbott to go along with his plans.
The November election once again delivered Texas Republicans full control of the state, but as the next state legislative session looms they seem to be spending a lot of time bickering with each other like they didn’t get the present they wanted under the Christmas tree.