Jason Villalba

Jason Villalba
Texas State Representative from District 114 (Dallas County)
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2013
Preceded by Will Ford Hartnett
Personal details
Born March 26, 1971
Dallas, Texas, USA
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Brooke Villalba
Children Two daughters
Residence Richardson, Texas
Alma mater South Grand Prairie High School

Baylor University
University of Texas School of Law

Occupation Attorney
Religion Methodist

Jason Villalba (born March 26, 1971) is an attorney for the firm Haynes and Boone in his native Dallas, Texas,[1] who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 114 in Dallas County.[2]

Villalba is the only Hispanic Republican member of the Texas House in 2013.[3] His district is affluent, largely Anglo, and spans north Dallas from Lake Highlands to Preston Hollow.[4]

Background

As a child, Villalba became interested in the televised speeches of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan According to an interview in D Magazine, Villalba saw an improvement in his own family's economic standing during the Reagan administration: "We could actually go on a vacation. Things changed for us for the better."[4] As a result Villalba became a Republican at an early age. Unlike many Texas Republicans, he is not a former Democrat.[4]

A fourth-generation Texan, Villalba graduated from South Grand Prairie High School in Grand Prairie in the Mid-Cities section of Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties. He then studied economics and finance at Baylor University in Waco and subsequently received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.[4] At Haynes and Boone, Villalba specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, private securities, and general corporate law.[5]

Villaba is a member of the Dallas Children’s Trust, the fund-raising mechanism for the Children's Medical Center. He has also served on the development committee for the Dallas Zoo. He became the chairman of the Dallas chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, a political outreach organization founded in 1967. Through this capacity be became a supporter of Mitt Romney in the 2008 presidential campaign. Four years later, Romney repaid the favor, while on a stop in Texas, he took time to endorse Villalba in the state House primary. Romney called him "a capable and effective leader." Romney made no other endorsement of this kind while running for president for the second time in 2012.[4]

Villalba and his wife, Brooke, reside with their two daughters in the Preston Hollow neighborhood in north Dallas. He is Methodist.[1]

Political career

When Republican Representative Will Ford Hartnett did not seek reelection after twenty-two years in the legislature, Villalba won the Republican nomination in a contested runoff election in District 114. His opponent, Bill Keffer of Dallas, had been from 2003 to 2007 the representative in District 107. Bill Keffer is the brother of still-serving District 60 Representative Jim Keffer, a Republican from Eastland, near Abilene, Texas.[6]

In addition to the support from Romney, Villalba was endorsed by retiring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who said “Jason Villalba is a hard-working, forward-thinking leader who we can depend on to lead for today and for the next generation of Texans.”[7] She also referred to him as "the future." [7] Hutchison also made no other endorsement of a candidate in 2012.[4]

In the May 29 primary, the 1,138 votes (11.4 percent) polled by David Boone were sufficient to require a second round of balloting on July 31 between Keffer, who led with 4,745 votes (47.5 percent), and Villaba, who finished with 4,114 ballots. (41.2 percent).[8]

In the Republican runoff, held along with the Ted Cruz-David Dewhurst contest to choose the nominee for Hutchison's U.S. Senate successor, Villalba reversed the order of finish to defeat Keffer, 6,100 (51.8 percent) to 5,683 (48.2 percent).[9] Villalba attributes his victor over Keffer to "shoe leather and determination".[4]

In the general election, Villalba defeated former Democratic Representative Carol Kent, 33,970 votes (54.2 percent to Kent's 28,762 (45.8 percent).[10] In the 2008 general election, Kent had unseated Republican Representative Tony Goolsby of Richardson in the neighboring District 102. She served one term from 2009 to 2011,[11] having been unseated in 2010 by the African-American Republican Stefani Carter.

Legislative record

Villalba serves on the House committees on (1) Business and Industry and (2) Economic Development.[5]

In 2013, Representative Villalba voted with the majority in both legislative houses to require enhanced safety standards in clinics performing abortions and to forbid the practice after twenty weeks of gestation.[1] State Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth staged a nationally-watched filibuster against these measures, which have since been signed into law by Governor Rick Perry.[12]

Villalba voted to require narcotics testing of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted against a free breakfast program for pupils in public schools.[1] He voted for House Bill 950, which would have required Texas to establish state standards of equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. Such requirements were passed nationally through the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The House vote for passage was 78 to 61, but after approval in the Texas Senate, the bill was vetoed by Governor Perry.[13]

Villalba voted against term limits for the statewide constitutional officers, including the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the attorney general. The measure died, 61-80, in the House.[14] Villalba voted to forbid the use of state funds to enforce national gun-control laws. He voted to reduce the required hours for concealed handgun training courses. He supported the authorization of concealed handguns on college campuses. He voted to establish school marshals.[1]

In other legislative votes, Villalba a supported a bill to forbid texting while driving; it has not been enacted. He co-sponsored the extension of the exemption of certain businesses from the franchise tax.[1]

In his second month as a legislator, Villalba acquired the opposition of conservatives opposed to implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act when he conceded, with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June 2012 to uphold the federal health law as constitutional, that Texas should consider all available options in determining whether to implement state health-insurance exchanges to create a marketplace for those individuals without health coverage. Michael Quinn Sullivan, the president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, said that the state should do nothing to help implement the federal law. In The Dallas Morning News, Gromer Jeffers wrote, "Villalba said he was disappointed with the tone and vitriol of some of his conservative critics. He stressed that he’s against the affordable health care law, but realizes that it’s not going anywhere."[15]

In December 2014, Villalba introduced HJR55,[16] a resolution calling for an amendment to the Texas constitution which he described as protecting "Religious Freedom" but which would actually have the effect of striking down non-discrimination laws at the City and County level throughout the state. The resolution was opposed by Democrats, Republicans, and business leaders and was eventually withdrawn.[17] Eric Nicholson of the Dallas Observer stated that Villalba proposed the amendment in "direct response to Plano's new LGBT protections"[18]

On March 10, 2015, Villalba introduced a bill that criminalizes photographing, recording, or documenting police officers from closer than 25 feet, or 100 feet if photographer has a concealed handgun license. Exceptions are made only for registered representatives of major new media organizations.[19] The bill, House Bill 2918, may be unconstitutional in light of the 2011 U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruling, Glik v. Cunniffe, which states that citizens have right to record police in action.[20] The bill has been described as follows: "Villalba’s bill would also make it illegal for private citizens to record their own interactions with police officers. In fact, the language is so broad, in prohibiting “documenting” the police officer’s activities, that taking notes during a conversation with an officer, about what was being said, the officer’s badge number, etc., could be construed as a violation."[21] After heavy criticism about the bill on social media, he became the subject of a Dallas Observer blog about his blocking on Twitter of critics or even reporters asking questions.[22]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Jason Villalba's Political Summary". votesmart.org. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Jason Villalba". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Adryana Boyne. Jason Villalba, A Rising Star in Politics and Already on the List of Legislators to Watch". texasgopvote.com. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "Zac Crain, Is Jason Villalba the Future of the Texas GOP? Meet the only political candidate that Mitt Romney has endorsed". D Magazine, October 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Jason Villalba". haynesboone.com. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Bill Keffer". lr.state.tx.us. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison endorses Jason Villalba". Texans for Jason Villalba, April 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012". elections.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Republican primary runoff election returns, July 31, 2012". elections.sos.state.us. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  10. ↑ "General election returns, November 6, 2013". elections.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  11. ↑ "2008 Texas general election returns". elections.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Wendy Davis Filibuster". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Texas HB 950 - Requires Equal Pay for Women". votesmart.org. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Texas SJR 13 - Establishes Term Limits For Certain Elected Officials". votesmart.org. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Gromer Jeffers, Sr., Dallas state Rep. Jason Villalba draws fire from conservatives over health care law, February 4, 2013". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  16. ↑ "a constitutional amendment relating to a person's free exercise of religion.". Texas Legislature Online. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  17. ↑ "Lawmaker reconsiders 'religious freedoms' bill after business opposition". Houston Chronical. 2015-03-10.
  18. ↑ "Dallas State Rep. Jason Villalba Wants to Restrict Where Citizens Can Photograph Cops". Dallas Observer. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  19. ↑ Texas Legislature Online, Bill: HB 2918
  20. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/13/bill-recording-police-illegal_n_6861444.html
  21. ↑ Wilonsky, Robert (March 13, 2015). "Dallas state Rep. Villalba drawing fire for proposal that criminalizes ‘cop-watching’". The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas). Retrieved March 13, 2015. Villalba’s bill would also make it illegal for private citizens to record their own interactions with police officers. In fact, the language is so broad, in prohibiting “documenting” the police officer’s activities, that taking notes during a conversation with an officer, about what was being said, the officer’s badge number, etc., could be construed as a violation. Besides the fact that law enforcement agencies themselves have acknowledged the role that cameras can play in reducing both incidents and false claims of police brutality — as evidenced by the rising support for police body cameras — this bill directly contradicts established case law precedent allowing citizens to videotape police.
  22. ↑ http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/03/texas_rep_villalba_blocks_journalism_student_on_twitter_for_asking_him_a_question.php
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
Will Ford Hartnett		 Texas State Representative from District 114 (Dallas County)

Jason Villalba
2013–

Succeeded by
Incumbent