Speaker Craddick appoints Rep. Branch to Legislative Budget Board

July 10, 2008

Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) appointed Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB).  Rep. Branch will replace Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson) who tendered his resignation from the Board earlier this week.

“Representative Branch is a distinguished legislator with a long history of service to his community,” Speaker Craddick said.  “I am honored that he’s decided to accept this new role, and I look forward to our continued work together to secure the financial future of the state of Texas.”

The Legislative Budget Board is a permanent joint committee of the House and Senate that assists the Texas Legislature with fiscal matters.  It creates fiscal analyses for proposed legislation, develops budget and policy recommendations for state agencies, and conducts performance reviews of state agencies to improve efficiency.

“I am grateful to the Speaker for the opportunity to serve on the Legislative Budget Board,” Rep. Branch said.  “It’s a high honor to serve with him, the Lt. Governor and a small group of legislators to help direct the state’s fiscal responsibilities.”

Rep Branch was elected to the Texas House for District 108, which covers uptown, downtown, near north % east Dallas, as well as the Park Cities, in 2002.  He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, where he has served since he was a freshman.  Rep. Branch is also a member of the House Calendars and House Public Education Committees.  He is the chair of the House Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance, and a former chairman of the Texas Public Finance Authority.  Rep. Branch was named to Capitol Inside’s “Best of the Texas Legislature” five years in a row, and has received multiple public service awards, including the “Champion of Free Enterprise” award from the Texas Association of Business.

Rep. Branch is an attorney and shareholder with Winstead PC, and a former president of the Dallas Assembly.  He serves as chair of the John Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU, a trustee for The Fund for American Studies and a member on the Council on Foreign Relations.

Rep. Hill announced last September that he would not seek re-election to the Texas House of Representatives.