Chairs
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Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson (1912-2007)
Mrs. Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor in the East Texas town of Karnack on December 22, 1912. She met the man whom she would marry when he was a Congressional secretary visiting Austin on official business. Lyndon Baines Johnson courted Lady Bird Taylor with all the single-minded energy he would later bring to elected office. They were engaged just seven weeks after their first date and married in November 1934. Her life with Lyndon Johnson was one of achievement in politics, business and philanthropy.
Lady Bird Johnson is probably best known for her support of her husband’s career. When Lyndon Johnson volunteered for the U.S. Navy in World War II, Mrs. Johnson ran his Congressional office, serving constituents’ needs in every way except voting. Her support for her husband’s political career continued throughout his years in government.
Lady Bird Johnson stood by her husband on the fateful November day in 1963 when Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States after the assassination of John Kennedy. After the Johnsons’ White House years ended in 1969, Mrs. Johnson authored A White House Diary, a memoir that drew on her considerable skills as a writer and historian. “I was keenly aware that I had a unique opportunity, a front row seat, on an unfolding story and nobody else was going to see it from quite the vantage point that I saw it.” She also co-authored Wildflowers Across America with Carlton Lees.
On her 70th birthday in 1982, Mrs. Johnson founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation and re-establishment of native plants in natural and planned landscapes. In December 1997, the property was renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in honor of Mrs. Johnson's 85th birthday. In 2006, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center became a part of The University of Texas at Austin, guaranteeing its permanent place in the national landscape—and ensuring that Lady Bird Johnson’s name will live on in the hearts of Americans.
Representative Wayne Smith
Rep. Wayne Smith
In November 2002, Representative Wayne Smith was elected to the Texas House of Representatives to serve District 128, encompassing Baytown, Deer Park, La Porte, Morgan's Point, and portions of the unincorporated area of East Harris County.
Rep. Smith is Chairman of the House Committee for County Affairs and serves on the House Committee for Government Reform. Both committees are vital to the district. County Affairs has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the organization of counties and the governing bodies of counties, and has oversight of the Commission on Jail Standards. Government Reform has jurisdiction over the operation and management of state departments, agencies, institutions, and advisory committees. This committee must oversee the powers and regulations of state agencies like that of the Texas Incentive and Productivity Commission as well as the Sunset Advisory Commission. In addition to Chairman of the Committee for County Affairs and member of Committee for Government Reform, Rep. Smith is a speaker appointee to the Environmental Permitting Review Board, Environmental and Natural Resource Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Texas Environmental Education Partnership Fund and the Energy Council.
Prior to his election, Rep. Smith was president of Wayne Smith and Associates, Inc. Consulting Engineers. Rep. Smith, a Licensed Professional Engineer and also a Registered Public Land Surveyor, remains active in professional activities. He was Construction Chairman of the Board of Directions of the Harris Country - Houston Sports Authority and Director of Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority and Coastal Water Authority before becoming an elected representative. Rep. Smith also served the U.S. Army in the Republic of Vietnam.
Rep. Smith and his wife, Brenda, live in Baytown. He has two children and three grandchildren.
Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa
Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa
State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa proudly represents the people of District 20 in the Texas Senate.
During the 79th Session, the Senator successfully passed legislation to protect Texans from identity theft and increase penalties for identity thieves. He also passed legislation to create the Texas Forensic Science Commission to ensure that Texas' forensics labs properly process criminal evidence. Hinojosa also passed SB 425, which limits the development of colonias in Nueces County by requiring utility services before land is sold to homebuyers. And to honor our veterans, he passed legislation to create a monument to Vietnam veterans on the State Capitol grounds.
During the 78th Session, the Senator passed legislation to strengthen restraining orders used to protect families from domestic violence, and he authored numerous bills such as SB 1934, which increased the representation of the Port of Corpus Christi, expanding the South Texas economy.
Senator Hinojosa served in the Texas House from 1981 to 1990 and from 1997 to 2002, where he passed landmark legislation establishing the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) which promotes physician training on the Texas/Mexico Border. As the Chairman of Criminal Jurisprudence, the Senator sponsored the Texas Fair Defense Act, reforming procedures for providing court-appointed defense counsel to indigent defendants.
As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Hinojosa secured $84.7 million for the construction of new facilities at universities in District 20. He has also fought hard to ensure that South Texans are charged fair utility rates and has advocated for the rights of working families to enroll their children in state-supported health insurance.
Hinojosa served his country with distinction in the U.S. Marines as a squad leader in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1968. In 1974, he received his law degree from Georgetown University. After returning to South Texas, he served as staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Nueces County and as an Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Attorney General. Hinojosa started his own private practice in McAllen in 1980.
Senator Hinojosa was twice named one of Texas' "Top 10 Legislators" by Texas Monthly magazine, and he was named "Legislator of the Year" by the National Organization for Women. In 2005, he was recognized as a Legislator of the Year by the Justices of the Peace and Constables Association of Texas, and he received the John Henry Faulk Award from the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2006, Senator Hinojosa was awarded the Public Servant of the Year Award by the Texas Coalition of Texans with Disabilities.