Staffers for House Speaker Tom Craddick were told today to clear their desks before tomorrow — the first day of the legislative session.

Staffers we've talked to say Terral Smith told them this morning that Speaker-apparent Joe Straus isn't keeping any of them after he's elected speaker tomorrow. Smith met this morning with Straus' chief of staff, former Rep. Clyde Alexander. After that meeting, he told staffers to clear their things out, and said some clerical employees are being asked to stay through the end of the month.

House employees in the clerk's office, the sergeant-at-arms' office, and the like, were not included in the layoffs.

The House convenes tomorrow at noon, swears in its members and elects a speaker. Barring a surprise, Straus is the only candidate for that job, having secured pledges from well over half the 150 members of the House.

He's putting together a staff now and will have a couple of weeks to name committee chairs and members.

When Craddick took over from Laney, he kept a handful of the 25 to 30 people who work in the Speaker's office. And he also had more time for a transition. Craddick's win was apparent right after the elections put the Republicans in the majority with 88 members. In the current case, the race for speaker was open until the first week of the New Year. Straus, compared to Craddick, and to Laney, too, has to organize in a hurry.