The heated debate surrounding health care reform legislation took a back seat for some Thursday at the Texas Capitol.

The House committee tackled policy instead of partisanship when reviewing the new health care legislation.

"I think people have to take off their partisan hats and agree to work on it," Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston said.

Speaker Joe Straus organized the committee tackling the health care legislation. State agency leaders said the committee has a lot of work to do.

"If we as a group, with the diversity we have there, can agree on it, it stands a really good chance of finding a home in the legislature," Rep. John Zerwas of Richmond said.

Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin said the legislation is the biggest project the House has ever faced. He echoed the sentiments of other agency leaders looking for more time, and hoping for more flexibility from the federal government.

"I think it's dangerous to put all your eggs in one analytical basket and say this is going to be the outcome,” Geeslin said. "So we're going to configure ourselves and structure ourselves to reach that outcome. There could be 10 different outcomes under this bill."

The state has to make a decision on a federal mandate dealing with high-risk insurance pools by April 30. Texas already has a pool in place, but would need to expand or run a parallel one. If the state opts out, the government would be allowed to step in and take over.

Joy Johnson Wilson is the Health Policy Director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. She said she hopes Congress will be willing to extend some of the scheduled deadlines.

"With the deadlines coming so quickly, and a lot of states already adjourned, it doesn't work well for us,” she said. “For biennial states, it's even more of a problem."

State legislators have a lot on their plate this next session. With redistricting, a looming budget shortfall and trying to tackle health care reform, there are some mixed responses for how it's all going to get done. Some representatives see the possibility of a special session.

For now, the new House committee is focused on figuring out what is best for the state regarding health care reform. The group is also hopeful for some wiggle room from the higher-ups.

"Everything in this bill is not carved in stone per-se. There is lots of opportunity to massage it and influence it, based on our state's needs and any other state's needs," Rep. Zerwas said.

Agency leaders said it's hard to move forward because there are still so many unknowns.

President Obama's administration scheduled a conference call with state officials around the country Thursday to talk about high-risk pools.

The governor's office participated, but officials said they still have not made a decision on how the state will move forward.

Texas is one of several states suing the federal government to get health care reform nullified.