Speaker of the House

Biography

Speaker Dustin Burrows of Lubbock has served House District 83 as State Representative since 2014 and was elected by his colleagues as the 77th Speaker of the Texas House in January 2025. Prior to assuming the speakership, he chaired the House Calendars Committee in the 87th and 88th Legislatures and the Ways & Means Committee in the 86th. His legislative service includes key roles on standing committees overseeing state elections, higher education, agriculture, international trade, and financial services, among other issues, as well as chairing the House Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting in Uvalde in 2022 and as a member of the Investigative Committee on the Texas Panhandle Wildfires in 2024.

Throughout his tenure, Speaker Burrows has championed landmark legislation and emergency items, including the Texas Taxpayer Transparency Act (2019) – requiring voter approval for property tax increases above a certain threshold; the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act (2024) – eliminating patchwork local regulations and restoring uniform regulatory authority to the state; historic school safety legislation – mandating armed security personnel on every Texas school campus; and the Matt Dawson Act – guaranteeing lifetime benefits for first responders injured in the line of duty.

A proud Red Raider and lifelong Lubbock resident, Speaker Burrows has been a steadfast advocate for Texas Tech University, helping establish its School of Veterinary Medicine and securing over $1 billion for the university’s endowment through the Texas University Fund.

Speaker Burrows graduated from Monterey High School in Lubbock, where he was active in Future Farmers of America, showed pigs, and served as a livestock judge. He holds degrees from Rhodes College and Texas Tech University, where he earned both his MBA and Juris Doctor.

A partner at Burrows Law Firm, Speaker Burrows lives in Lubbock with his wife, Elisabeth, and their three sons, all of whom attend Lubbock ISD schools. 

Newsletters

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Powers & Duties

The speaker is the presiding officer of the house of representatives. The Texas Constitution requires the house of representatives, each time a new legislature convenes, to choose one of its own members to serve as speaker.

As presiding officer, the speaker maintains order during floor debate, recognizing legislators who wish to speak and ruling on procedural matters. The constitution also requires the speaker to sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the legislature. As a member of the house of representatives, the speaker may vote on all questions before the house.

The other duties and responsibilities of the speaker are determined by the members of the house in the House Rules of Procedure, which are adopted by a majority vote of the members at the beginning of each regular session of the legislature. The members give the speaker the authority to appoint the membership of each standing committee, subject to rules on seniority, and to designate the chair and vice chair for each committee. Under the rules, the speaker is responsible for referring all proposed legislation to committee, subject to the committee jurisdictions set forth in the rules. The rules also allow the speaker to appoint conference committees, to create select committees, and to direct committees to conduct interim studies when the legislature is not in session.

Committee Appointments

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