AUSTIN, Texas — As state lawmakers begin their 140 day session, the Texas House will be under new leadership. Rep. Dade Phelan. (R-Beaumont), says he has secured enough votes to become the next speaker. The lower chamber will vote on the position Tuesday when they reconvene for the 87th Legislative Session.

Phelan is beginning his fourth term and while he's received bipartisan support, the head of the Texas GOP previously said the party would not accept Phelan as the next House Speaker. 

"It's really a decision for the members of the Texas House who the next Speaker is going to be. They know their colleagues the best," Phelan said in an interview on Capital Tonight.

Phelan says he'll lead in a way that gives House members the ability to vote their districts. He'll be in charge of the lower chamber at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is raging in Texas. Phelan says the House will pass rules later this week to help govern the chamber in a way that protects people's safety. 

"I expect there to be some type of requirement for masks," he said. "And it's really just no different from how we require a coat and tie, or certain pants or certain shoes on the House floor." 

Phelan said he will have no problem enforcing the rules passed by the House, including mask mandates. 

Monday, Comptroller Glenn Hegar projected lawmakers will face a budget shortfall of about $1 billion. That's better than expected and when asked whether there are areas that are off the table when it comes to potential cuts, Phelan pointed to education. 

"What we spend the most money on is the most important thing to us, and the most important thing in Texas is public education, higher education," he said. "It's our number one item. Article 3, we spend more on that than anything else in the state of Texas and I don't expect that to change." 

Along with the state budget, there's political pressure to act on police brutality, a push on limits to local cuts to police budgets, expanding telemedicine and also looming is the once-a-decade process of redrawing political district lines according to pending census data.