Legislative Luncheon- Chairman of the Texas House Higher Education Committee Dan Branch

Date: March 23, 2010
Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Registration: REGISTER ONLINE NOW

This event provides a forum for state and federal elected and appointed officials to address Arlington business and education leaders and government officials on current issues. This luncheon series attracts business, community, civic and educational leaders, and government officials. Participants gain access and the oppotunity to discuss issues of importance to the business community.

Series Lunch Sponsor
image

Host Sponsor
image

image

Rep. Dan Branch serves as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Dallas (District 108). Elected in 2002, as a Republican, he represents downtown, uptown and near East Dallas, as well as the Town of Highland Park and the City of University Park.

Rep. Branch is Chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education and serves on the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee, as well as the Legislative Budget Board.  Recently, he served three terms as the Chair of Budget & Oversight on House Public Education Committee, and last session, served as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.

Chairman Branch was selected by Texas House members from eleven north Texas counties to serve as the Republican Chair of the Dallas Area Legislative Delegation (DALD), at the delegation’s first meeting of the 81st Session. 
During the 2009 legislative session, Branch authored and passed several key pieces of legislation, including the “Tier One” universities bill, a bill that reformed the Top 10% college admissions rule, as well as new laws that expanded higher education science research and the use of digital textbooks in public schools.

In 2009, Branch was named to Capitol Inside’s “Best of the Texas Legislature” list for the 6th consecutive time and both Capitol Inside and Texas Monthly named him to their listings of best legislators of the 2009 Session. 
In 2006, Branch was one of the primary authors of the school finance reform, franchise tax reform and property tax reduction legislation signed into law by Governor Perry.  In 2007, he was a joint author of HB 2 — the largest property tax cut in the history of Texas. 

In addition to his service in the Legislature, Branch is a corporate lawyer and shareholder of Winstead PC. He is a former judicial clerk to Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack Pope and a former aide to the late U.S. Senator John Tower.  Branch is a member of the bars of Texas, New York and the District of Columbia.

Beyond his professional service, Branch is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, a former president of The Dallas Assembly and a former Chairman of the Texas Public Finance Authority, appointed by Governor George W. Bush. He is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Rodel program, Class of 2008.  In addition, he is the chairman of SMU’s John Tower Center for Political Studies and serves on numerous boards, including The Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C., Boy Scouts of America/Circle Ten Council and Southwestern Medical Foundation in Dallas.

A graduate of the SMU School of Law and the Institute on Comparative Political & Economic Systems at Georgetown University, he holds two undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma Christian University, graduating summa cum laude in 1980.

Dan and his wife, Stacey, along with their five children, have lived and worked in Dallas for over 20 years.

Share

Event Sponsored By

Series Title Sponsor

Series Title Sponsor

Event Location

UT Arlington
E.H. Hereford University Center, Bluebonnet Ballroom
300 W 1st Street
Arlington, TX 76010

Parking available in lot 39. For parking locations, see map here.