Jim Pitts

James R. (Jim) Pitts (born 1947) is an American state politician and lawyer who currently serves in the Texas House of Representatives. The Waxahachie Republican challenged sitting Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick for leadership of that body during the beginning of the 80th Texas Legislature, and participated with other opponents of Craddick in attempting to bring about a "Motion to Vacate the Chair".

Professional background

Pitts was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended Southern Methodist University where he received a bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Accounting, Masters of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctorate.

Pitts served for fourteen years as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Waxahachie Independent School District. Pitts was serving a term as President of the school board when he was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1992.

Community involvement

Pitts serves as a director of Citizens National Bank, based in Waxahachie. He has also serves as a director of Waxahachie's Sims Library, and has served as a past-president of the Waxahachie Chamber of Commerce and past-president and treasurer of the Board of Trustees of Presbyterian Children's Services. He also currently serves on the Community Advisory Council for the Scottish Rite Learning Center. Jim was chosen as Waxahachie’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year in 1999, and was named one of Texas’ Ten Best Legislators in 2005 [ [http://www.texasmonthly.com/bestworst Texas Monthly Best and Worst Legislators 2005] ] by the Texas Monthly Magazine.

Jim has practiced law for the past 34 years in Waxahachie, with a specialty in General and Real Estate Law. He also owns the Ellis County Abstract and Title Company.

Family

Jim is the son of Roy Pitts and his wife, Agnes, who currently resides in Henderson County. Jim has a twin brother, John, who lives in Houston, Texas, and a sister, Rosemary Burns, who also lives in Henderson County.

Jim and his late wife, Evelyn Eastham Pitts, have three children: two daughters: Duffy and Ashley, and one son: Ryan. All three of his children have attended Southern Methodist University, the oldest two graduating from SMU, while the youngest, Ryan, still attends.

Legislative history and Chairmanships [ [http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/welcome.htm Texas House of Representatives Committees] ]

The people of District 10, which consists of Hill County and Ellis County, elected Pitts as their state representative on November 3, 1992. The district was created from the 1991 redistricting of the state.

During the 1993 session of the Texas Legislature, Jim served on the House Committees on Economic Development and Transportation. Pitts was appointed to the committees on Criminal Jurisprudence and Corrections for the 74th Legislative Session in 1995. During the 75th Legislative Session, Jim served as a member of the Appropriations Committee and the State, Federal and International Relations Committee.

In 1999, during the 76th Legislative Session] , Jim was appointed to serve on the House Committees for Appropriations, Financial Institutions, and Redistricting. Pitts also chaired the Appropriations subcommittees for Regulatory Agencies and Major Information Systems.

The 77th Legislative Session found Jim serving, once again, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, the House Redistricting Committee, and the Financial Institutions Committee. He retained his post as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Agencies, also, and as a member of the Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance.

During 78th Legislative Session in 2003, Jim served his third term on the House Appropriations Committee, and was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee, and the Redistricting Committee. Pitts was also appointed to serve on the Select Committee on Public School Finance and as chairman of the Subcommittee on High Schools.

Prior to the 79th Legislative Session in 2005, Jim was chosen to serve as the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He was subsequently reappointed Chairman at the beginning of the 79th Legislative Session.

The controversial 80th Session

In December 2006, just before the commencement of The 80th Legislative Session, Pitts announced his candidacy for the position of Speaker of the House, held since 2003 by fellow Republican Tom Craddick. Pitts joined fellow state representatives Brian McCall and Senfronia Thompson in actively challenging the sitting Speaker. In early January, the two Republicans, Pitts and McCall, joined forces with the agreement that Pitts would be put forth as a consensus candidate for Speaker of the House. Pitts acquiesced to the sitting speaker, however, when a "test vote" based on a secret ballot failed.

However, Pitts and fellow Republicans Charlie Geren, Brian McCall, Robert Talton, and others, continued to actively fight what they called "arm twisting and intimidation," [ [http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/2006/12/pitts-craddick-cant-get-there.php Craddick Can't Get There] ] and late in the Legislative Session, other Republicans such as Chairmen Byron Cook, Jim Keffer, and Fred Hill, would join the fight to oust Craddick. The attempts to remove the Speaker were ultimately unsuccessful when Craddick asserted that he held the absolute power as Speaker of the House to acknowledge or deny motions, making it implausible, if not impossible, for one of his opponents to be recognized in order to make a motion to remove the Speaker.

References

External links

[http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist10/pitts.htm Texas House Of Representatives Member Page, Rep. Jim Pitts]
[http://www.jimpitts.net Jim Pitts Campaign Website]