Around the Capitol / On the Move

Speaker Dade Phelan has recently announced staff changes including the following: 

• Sam Bacarisse will cover B&I, Insurance, PIFS, and LAP.
• Briana Novian will handle Human Services, Public Health and continue her work with the House Appropriations Committee.
• Jason Briggs is now General Counsel and will cover the State Affairs portfolio.
• Director of Policy Margo Cardwell will also advise on legal matters for the Office of the Speaker as Senior Counsel.

Jaime Villarreal will replace Rico Garcia as Sen. Carol Alvarado's Chief of Staff. Jaime was previously the Legislative Director.

Nicole Busch, former legislative intern for Sen. Royce West will now be working on the Colin Allred campaign.

Cody Cazares, former Special Assistant to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, is now Chief of Staff to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Capitol veteran Tony Flores is joining Rep. Suleman Lalani's office as Chief of Staff. He has worked for Rep. Oscar Longoria and recently left the Office of the Attorney General.

Walt Baum, formerly president of the Texas Cable Association, will now be CEO of Powering Texans.

Some staffing changes at the Sunset Advisory Commission since last fall:

• Meghan Peel is now the Data Officer. She most recently worked as a Policy Research and Data Analyst for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
• Kristin Gilger is now the Editor. She most recently worked as a graduate services coordinator at UT Austin’s Writing Center.
• Robin Blackmon is now the Review Director. Blackmon was previously the Director of the Management Consulting Group at the Department of Family and Protective Services.
• Astrid Alvarado is a Policy Analyst. She most recently worked as a data policy analyst at the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
• Drew Johnson is also a Policy Analyst. He most recently worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Oslo, Norway on the Good Attention Project.

Marissa Pryor has become the Executive Assistant for Sen. Royce West. She previously served as the committee clerk for the House Local Government Committee.

Speaker Dade Phelan appointed the following members to the newly created House Select Committee on Securing Texas from Hostile Foreign Organizations. Reps Cole Hefner (Chair), Angie Chen Button, Cody Harris, Todd Hunter, Ray Lopez, Armando Martinez, Terry Wilson.

Sheryl Taylor is no longer Rep. Shawn Thierry's Chief of Staff.

Amy Befeld Stratmann has left Texans for Lawsuit Reform to return to the office of Sen. Joan Huffman.

Brooke Galindo is the new Chief of Staff for Rep. Ann Johnson. She was previously the Chief of Staff for Rep. Lina Ortega.

Fmr. Rep. Norma Chavez who has been out of the Capitol for several years, lost her primary run-off race to return to the House.

Rep. Shelby Slawson has filed to run for Speaker of the House.

Results from the May 29th Primary Election Run-off:

Incumbents who won:

• Speaker Dade Phelan
• Rep. Gary VanDeaver
• Rep. Craig Goldman (won run-off for Congressional seat vacated by US Rep. Kay Granger)

Incumbents who lost:

• Rep. Justin Holland
• Rep. John Kuempel
• Rep. DeWayne Burns
• Rep. Frederick Frazier
• Rep. Lynn Stucky
• Rep. Stephanie Klick
• Rep. Shawn Theirry
• Rep. Jarvis Johnson (lost in special election to fill open Senate seat of fmr. Sen. and now Houston Mayor, John Whitmire.

Texas Politics Today is produced and sponsored by Arnold Public Affairs, an Austin-based public affairs and lobby firm working with corporate and non-profit organizations. Jim Arnold, Ellen Arnold and Rea Motiwala

Be sure to send us news of departures, promotions, births, marriages and other milestones, so we can share it with the Capitol community!

Information can be sent to jim@arnoldpublicaffairs.com or text at 512-431-5385

Lobby/Association/Other

Rep. Travis Clardy was recently named the new president of the Texas Health Care Association.

Curtis Smith is the new Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Director for Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. He previously served as COS for Rep. Terry Canales.

Rico Garcia, former Chief of Staff to Sen. Carol Alvarado, is joining the public policy team at Airbnb

Former Senate staffer, Kelly Rasti is the new Associate Executive Director of Government Relations for the Texas Association of School Boards.

The Texas Association of Counties named Caroline Love as Director of Legislative Services. Love previously worked for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the Texas Department of Transportation.

Katy Estrada is the Associate Director of Legislative Services at Texas Association of Counties. Estrada previously worked in the House Committee Coordinator's Office, the House Committee on County Affairs and at Davis Kaufman.

Cameron Duncan is now with BlueCross and BlueShield of Texas as Director of Government Relations. He was previously the Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy at the Texas Hospital Association.

Mark Stover is the incoming Executive Director of the Texas Solar Power Association. He was most recently Director of State Affairs for Apex Clean Energy. 

Jamie Bennett is joining The Polar Group as Vice President, while also keeping his own public affairs consulting firm.

Rick Levy has joined the board of directors of Clean Energy Fund of Texas. Previously, Levy was the President of the Texas AFL-CIO.

Michelle Smith is starting her own firm, Smith Advocacy. She previously worked at Raise Your Hand Texas as the executive director.

Nicole Kralj has started with Walgreens as Regional Director of Government Affairs – Southwest. She previously worked with Kralj Consulting.

Laura Carr is leaving the Texas Senate to go join TXLege AI.

Former Capitol staffer Leigh Ann Lauderdale has started a new position as COS to Austin City Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly. 

Former House staffer Michael Williams is starting a new position as Public Policy and Programs Manager at the Texas Real Estate Council.

State Agencies

The Cancer and Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Board approved Kristen Doyle as the new CPRIT Chief Executive Officer beginning July 1. She previously was the Deputy Executive Officer and General Counsel for CPRIT.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas named Connie Corona as Executive Director. Corona has served as Interim Executive Director since February. Barksdale English has been promoted to Deputy Executive Director.

Courtney Arbour was named executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.  Arbour was previously the Workforce Development Director at the Texas Workforce Commission.

Sydni Gaitan has started a new position as External Relations Specialist at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. She previously was Gov. Greg Abbott's Higher Education policy advisor.

Birthdays

Note: If you'd like your birthday listed and we aren't friends on FB, email me and I'll make sure its included.

June

1- Jason Johnson

3- Will Buchanan, Dylan Matthews, Jeffrey Waldock, Shannon Meroney

4- Kelly Barnes, Grace Porter, Grace Loos Nowlin

5- Rep. Martinez Fischer, Jordan Root, Sean Cunningham, Joshua Garrett, Kay Kamm, Joe Arnold, Daniel Gonzalez, Rep. Gina Hinojosa

6- Rep. Will Metcalf, Brianna Menard

7- Rep. Erin Gamez, Rep. John Lujan, Mackenna Wehmeyer

8- Rep. Tom Oliverson, Rep. Matt Shaheen

9- Priscilla Camacho

10- Rep. Jeff Leach, Wendy McDaniel Foster

11- Ashley Westenhover. Tony Dale

12- Daniel Perez, Dave McNeely

13- Rep. Carl Sherman

14- Ward Tisdale, Jeff Stokes, Deb Mamula, Emily Eppright Kirchner

15- Robyn Hadley, Rusty Word

16- Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, Terra Tucker, Angelos Angelou, Matthew Wright

17- Merita Zoga, Amanda Kit Tollett, Anna Lisa Montoya, Matt Ruszczak

18- Rep. Greg Bonnen, Amy Gummow, Dee Kelly Jr.

19- Bill Noble, Dale Wainwright

21- Meredith Delk, Jayna Grove

22- Rep. Keith Bell, Rep. DeWayne Burns

23-Becky Brownlee, Danielle Delgadillo, Wayne Franke, Ryan Trimble, Phil Fountain, Becky Brownlee

24-Chet Dombrowski, Barry Brown

25-Sen. Larry Taylor, Suzy Woodford

26-Rep.John Bucy, Marc Salvato, Amy Baird Maxwell, Lara Wendler, Jess Heck

27-Rep. Mike Schofield, Casey Christman, Sloan Byerly, Santiago Diaz, Luke Merchant, Kristin Knuth Nuckols, Grayson Coker

28-David Feigen, James Henson, Joe Morris, Joey Bennett

29-Rep. Doc Anderson, Michelle Smith, Meghan Weller, Mark Garcia

30- Aaron Gregg

Shout Outs

Congratulation to Robyn Hadley on the recent birth of her granddaughter, Sophie Mae Fikes.

Congratulations to Rhett Perry and Shannon Johnson on their recent engagement.

Congratulations to Brandon Steinhauser on the recent birth of his daughter, Hazel Grace Steinhauser.

Congratulations to Jordan Overturf and his wife Jane on the recent birth of their daughter, Ellie Rose.

Congratulations to Glenn Deshields and Amy DeWeese on the upcoming birth of their daughter.

Congratulations to Paige Higerd and Craig Holzheauser on their recent engagement.

In Our Thoughts

We send our condolences to the friends, colleagues and families of the following who have passed recently:

Greg Barnes, son of former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes

Fmr. Rep. Barry Telford

Sen. Royce West’s executive assistant, Imelda Jasso's son, Alex.who passed last night

Fmr. staffer and lobbyist Jack Fickessen.

Fmr. Rep. Jessica Farrar's mother.

For inquiries regarding sponsorship opportunities for this newsletter, please reach out to Jim Arnold at jim@arnoldpublicaffairs.com.