Bill Callegari

William Anthony Callegari, Sr., known as Bill Callegari (born September 23, 1941), is a businessman and civil engineer from Katy, a suburb of Houston, Texas, who was a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives.^[1] From 2001 to 2003, he represented District 130; in 2003, he was switched to neighboring District 132 in northwestern Harris County,.^[2]

Background

A native of Cottonport in Avoyelles Parish in south central Louisiana, Callegari in 1963 received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1972, he obtained a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Houston.^[1]

Since 1988, Callegari has been the president of the southern region of Aqua Source Services and Technologies, Inc. From 1974 to 1993, he was the executive officer of the AM-TEX Corporation. He founded the Texas Association of Water Board Directors and is a member of the American Waterworks Association.^[1] Callegari holds "Class A" certifications in water and wastewater management.^[3] He is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Houston Builders Association, and the Katy Athletic Booster Club.^[1]

Callegari is a member of the halls of fame of the colleges of engineering of both LSU and the University of Houston. The William A. Callegari Environmental Center at LSU is named in his honor. He is a fellow as well of the Texas Engineering Foundation.^[3]

Callegari and his wife of more than fifty years, the former Ann Roy (born c. 1941), have four children and as of 2014 eleven grandchildren. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.^[1]

Political life

From 1984 to 1988, Callegari was an elected trustee of the Katy Independent School District.^[1]

Callegari first ran for the Texas House in 2000 in District 130 in the Republican primary for the seat vacated by John Culberson, who was instead elected to represent Texas' 7th congressional district. Callegari finished second in the race with 4,654 votes (34.7 percent) and was sent into a runoff election with Aubrey Ray Thoede (born c. 1965), who led the primary with 4,821 votes (36 percent). In third place was the subsequent representative, the attorney Corbin Van Arsdale, then of Cypress in Harris County, who finished with 3,925 votes (29.3 percent), an amount critical to the outcome of the Thoede-Callegari contest.^[4] Callegari in turn defeated Thoede to claim the heavily Republican seat, 54.3 to 45.7 percent.^[5] In 2002, Callegari was moved through redistricting to District 132. Van Ardsdale ran again in District 130, this time against Bill O'Brien in the Republican primary. Van Arsdale won that contest, 3,470 (58.1 percent) to 2,504 (41.9 percent), and began the first of his three terms in the legislature.^[6]

In the 2000 general election, Callegari, with 48,223 votes (74.2 percent) defeated the Democrat Fred Lundgren, who polled 15,230 (23.4 percent). The remaining 1,576 votes (2.4 percent) went to the Libertarian Party nominee Jeff Craig.^[7] Since his first election to the legislature in District 130, Callegari had little opposition in his heavily Republican district. For instance, in District 132 he won the 2006 and 2008 general elections, both with 82.4 percent of the vote, the 2010 general election with 66.2 percent, and the 2012 Republican primary with 79.5 percent.^[8]

Callegari did not seek an eighth term in the House in the Republican primary held on March 4, 2014. Four candidates ran for the nomination; a runoff will be held on May 27. Mike Schofield, a long-time policy advisor to Governor Rick Perry who describes himself as a "conservative" and who ran unsuccessfully for the House in District 133 in 2006 against Republican Jim Murphy of Houston,^[9] led the field with 2,980 votes (44.6 percent). The number-two candidate, Ann Forest Hodge (born 1949), polled 1,301 (19.5 percent). The two remaining candidates, Michael Andrews Franks (born c. 1967) and attorney Justin David Perryman (born 1968), held the remaining but critical 36 percent of the ballots cast.^[10] Schofield defeated Hodge in the runoff election and then topped the Democrat candidate, Luis Lopez, in the November 4 general election.

Under appointment of Speaker Joe Straus, Callegari in his final term was the chairman of the House Pensions Committee. He sat as well on the Natural Resources Committee.^[1] He chaired the House Research Organization.^[3]

Legislative voting records

In 2013, Representative Callegari supported the ban on abortion after twenty weeks of gestation; the measure passed the House, 96-49. He voted for companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers,^[11] a move which opponents said could lead to the closure of many abortion clinics in the state. These issues brought forth an unsuccessful filibuster in the Texas State Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who in 2014 is the Democratic nominee for governor against the Republican Greg Abbott.^[12] In 2011, Callegari did not vote on two other anti-abortion measures. One forbids state funding of agencies which perform abortions. The other requires that a woman undergo a sonogram before procuring an abortion. This legislation is based on the view that a woman could change her mind about an abortion once she witnesses the development of the unborn child through the latest technology.^[11] The Texas Right to Life Committee, according to Project Vote Smart, rated Callegari 41 percent favorable in 2013, 72 percent in 2011, and 100 percent in 2005. The National Abortion Rights Action League rated him 9 percent in 2005.^[13]

Callegari opposed the taxpayer-funded school breakfast program, which passed the House, 73-58. He voted for legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity. He co-sponsored the successful bill to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Callegari voted for the adoption of the biennial state budgets in 2013 but not in 2011. He voted to require testing for narcotics of those individuals receiving unemployment compensation.^[11]

Callegari co-sponsored the bill to prohibit the state government from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms. He co-sponsored the bill to allow college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in buildings and vehicles in the name of campus security. He supported the bill to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit. He backed the redistricting bills for the state House and Senate and the United States House of Representatives. He voted against term limits for certain state officials. He co-sponsored the bill to ban texting while driving. Callegari voted against an "equal pay for women" bill,^[11] a measure which passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Perry.^[14]

In 2011, Callegari supported a resolution to reduce funding for state agencies. He voted against expansion of the sales tax to Internet transactions to match existing laws for brick and mortar stores; the measure passed the House 125-20. Callegari voted to prohibit smoking in public places. He voted to establish eligibility for indigent health care. He voted against corporal punishment in public schools; the bill nevertheless passed the House, 80-64. To guarantee the integrity of the election process, Callegari supported picture identification of voters.^[11] The law finally took effect in October 2013 and was used widely without incident in the primaries on March 4, 2014.^[15] In 2013, Callegari supported related legislation to forbid a voter from turning in multiple ballots.^[11]

Interest group ratings

Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Callegari 58 percent favorable in 2013, 32 percent in 2011, and 79 percent in 2009. The Young Conservatives of Texas gave him a lifeime score of 72 percent in 2013. The interest group Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated Callegari 39 percent favorable in 2013, 75 percent in 2011, and 90 percent in 2009. The Texas Association of Business gave him a cumulative score of 87 percent in 2013. The Texas League of Conservation Voters rated Callegari 71 percent in 2007; the Sierra Club, 17 percent in 2011. The National Rifle Association scored Callegari92 percent in 2013 and "A" in all of his previous legislative sessions. In 2009, the Libertarian Party of Texas rated him 59 percent on personal liberties and economic issues. In his first year in office, the NAACP rated him 67 percent favorable.^[13]

References