Dennis Bonnen: winner or loser? Beats the hell outta us

The new Texas House committee assignments were announced today in Austin.

We've been wondering how our favorite whippin' boy, State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, might fare in the reshuffled committees now that there's a new House speaker who apparently is not as right-wingy as the last guy.

Anyhow, Bonnen is OUT as head of the House Committee on Environmental Regulation. This is good. He was way too unpleasant a fellow for the job and handled the concerns of environmentalists with a heavy hand. We respect the right to disagree and, yeah, some enviros are a little loopy, but Bonnen didn't have to be such an a-hole toward them. It reflected poorly on Brazoria County, which we love.

But now he's IN as chair of the Land & Resouce Management Committee. Does this mean he can still browbeat conservationists during committee hearings? Kinda sounds like it. But we really have no idea what this committe does exactly.

We are now faced with the vexing question of whether these changes enhance Bonnen's vow to have the Texas Toad named as the official state amphibian (after his failed effort last session to have the Texas Blind Salamander named as such.)

If anyone knows, let us know.

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[pdf file of new committee assignments, via Tx Monthly]