Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has appointed former Rep. Steve Wolens of Dallas to the Texas Ethics Commission.
The Speaker of the House appoints two of the Commission’s eight members. The Texas Constitution requires that the Speaker’s two appointees come from different political parties. It also says the Speaker must appoint one commissioner recommended by Republican Members of the House and one commissioner recommended by Democratic Members.
Wolens will replace Paul Hobby, who left the Commission after his term expired. The Speaker’s other appointee on the Commission, Chase Untermeyer of Houston, was recommended by Republican Members of the House. Untermeyer’s term will expire in 2017.
Wolens is a Principal in the Dallas office of law firm McKool Smith. He served in the Texas House from 1981 to 2005, authoring landmark legislation on ethics, antitrust laws, electric deregulation, and partnerships and limited liability corporations.
Wolens’ term will expire in November 2019.
