Dennis Bonnen

Dennis Higgins Bonnen (born March 3, 1972) is an American businessman and politician who served as the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. A Republican, Bonnen represented District 25 of the Texas House from 1997 to 2021. In 2013, then-Speaker Joe Straus appointed Bonnen as Speaker Pro Tempore, presiding over the House in the Speaker's absence.

Early life, education, and career Born in Angleton, Texas, in the Greater Houston area, to attorney David and homemaker Matina Bonnen, as a child Bonnen was diagnosed with dyslexia at Texas Children's Hospital. He struggled with the condition in his childhood education, spending his fourth grade year in a special school that used phonics-based techniques. Nevertheless, he graduated from Angleton High School in 1990, and received a B.A. in Political Science in 1994 from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Bonnen worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Congressman Greg Laughlin, worked for the Can Manufacturers Institute, and "traveled the nation in 1995 working on the Bob Dole presidential campaign". becoming the youngest member in the legislature at that time. and at the Brazoria County Youth Conference the following month. He spoke out in defense of the county detention center against allegations of improper use of force, with Bonnen characterizing proposed legislation as a state effort to usurp local government. Bonnen ran unopposed in 1998, and was reelected over the next two decades, during which he "earned a reputation as a pugnacious lawmaker". Also in 2007, Bonnen gained national attention for authoring Texas House Bill 1098 to overturn a controversial executive order by then-Governor Rick Perry mandating administration of the newly developed HPV vaccine to sixth-grade girls. The legislation passed with a veto-proof majority in both chambers of the Texas legislature. Bonnen voted against a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools, though the measure passed the House, 73–58. He co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate category of law enforcement officials. He co-sponsored an extension of the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Bonnen voted to prohibit texting while driving, and to require narcotics testing for recipients of unemployment compensation. He co-sponsored bills forbidding state enforcement of federal firearms regulations, allowing college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security, and reducing the time required for an individual to procure training to obtain a concealed handgun license; the latter measure cleared the House, 116–30. He did not vote on a bill establishing term limits for certain state officials, and the resolution failed on the House floor. He authored HB 1914, the passage of which increased the allowable time between parole hearings for the egregious crimes of capital murder and aggravated sexual assault. In 2018, he received an A rating by the National Rifle Association.

Speakership On November 12, 2018, Bonnen announced he had 109 votes to be the next Texas House Speaker, more than the 76 votes needed for election. On January 8, 2019, Bonnen was unanimously elected by the Texas House of Representatives to serve as Speaker of the House. In his opening remarks as Speaker of the House, Bonnen declared school finance legislation to be the number one priority for the 86th legislative session, in addition to school safety, combating human trafficking and providing property tax relief. Among the elements of the school finance overhaul supported by Bonnen was a proposal to provide "additional funding to schools to help students with dyslexia". On June 21, 2019, Bonnen joined Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at a press conference to announce that Texas would deploy an additional 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the border amid the migrant surge.

Bonnen apologized following a 2019 controversy in which Michael Quinn Sullivan, the president of conservative advocacy group Empower Texans, secretly recorded Bonnen making negative comments about other legislators, and offering the group press credentials providing floor access in exchange for their working against moderate Republican members. On October 22, 2019, Bonnen announced that he would not seek re-election, paving the way for a new House speaker in the next session of the House. An investigation by the Texas Rangers ultimately concluded that Bonnen did not break any laws in the exchange.

Issues Bonnen voted in support of legislation to ban sanctuary cities in Texas, legalize open carry, authorize concealed carry on college campuses, require Voter ID, permit religious organizations to decline to perform marriage services, require the Texas Rangers to investigate public corruption, and require colleges and universities to fund student centers for family and traditional values. He also voted for HJR 38 to authorize a constitutional amendment banning a state income tax, a measure that passed the House 100–42. Texas Monthly named Bonnen as a Best Lawmaker in June 2019 for his work as Speaker of the Texas House of Representative during Texas' 86th Legislative Session. The Conservative Roundtable of Texas rated Bonnen a 94 percent on their Conservative Effectiveness Index in 2017, a 100 percent in 2015, and a 100 percent in 2012.

Other activities Outside of his work in the legislature, Bonnen entered the field of banking in the mid-2000s, "becoming president, CEO and chairman of Heritage Bank in 2008". In 2023, Bonnen co-founded the strategic consulting firm Second Floor Strategies.

In 2009, the Houston Business Journal named Bonnen one of their "40 Under 40". In 2013, he was inducted into the Angleton Independent School District Hall of Fame, and in 2015 was honored as the 2014-15 Brazosport Friend of the College.