SUMMARY | LEGISLATIVE
EXPERIENCE
ADMISSIONS
TO PRACTICE |
LAW
PRACTICE EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION | CIVIC
ACTIVITIES
MISCELLANEOUS
SUMMARY
Hector Uribe began his career
as a civil rights lawyer over 34
years ago. He went on to serve
in the Texas House and Senate where
he was a champion of farm workers,
students, the elderly and the environment.
His broad knowledge and experience
in law and government, his business
management know-how, and his interests
in the arts and theater truly provide
him an expansive foundation to
participate in public policy discussions
and decision making. A native of
Brownsville, Hector raised his
three youngest children in Austin
and has been a full-time Austinite
for nearly 10 years.
LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE
During his tenure in the Texas
Senate, Hector served on a number
of senate committees, including
the Natural Resources, Health and
Human Services, Intergovernmental
Relations, Finance, Education,
and Nominations Committees.
Hector was a prolific bill passer.
His successful legislative package
included a wide variety of topics.
He wrote the Texas Enterprise Zone
Act, designed to create new businesses
and jobs in economically distressed
areas. He also wrote the Protective
Services for the Elderly Act to
guard against elder neglect and
abuse as well as legislation establishing
the University of Texas at Pan
American in Edinburg and Brownsville.
During his final session in the
Texas Senate he served as Chair
of the Natural Resources Standing
Subcommittee on Water that wrote
the first colonias legislation
and created a bond package to assure
clean water and sewer facilities
for colonia residents. As a member
of the Natural Resources Committee
he voted to create a super fund
to clean up contamination left
by leaking underground gasoline
storage tanks. As Vice-Chair of
the Health and Human Services Committee,
he authored legislation to regulate
and require indoor air quality
in public buildings and to regulate
asbestos removers.
Hector successfully
addressed many difficult and controversial
issues and was an advocate for
those who were poor, disenfranchised
and without an organized lobby,
including lay midwives, farm workers,
and students. Throughout the eighties
he fought to secure for farm workers
the same protections guaranteed
to almost every working person
in the state since the early part
of the 20th century. He either
authored or supported legislation
that extended workers and unemployment
compensation to farm workers
as well as legislation that outlawed
the backbreaking short-handled
hoe.
He was the first modern day sponsor
of Texas lottery legislation. His
committee assignments on the Intergovernmental
Relations Committee immersed him
in the fine detail of state, county
and municipal government and prepared
him to draft and promote legislation
that ultimately became Texas law.
Prior to serving in the Texas
Senate, Hector had served in the
Texas House of Representatives
for three years. During his tenure
in the Texas House, he served on
the Judiciary, Insurance and the
Health Services Committees.
In 1996, Hector returned to politics
as the nominee of the Texas Democratic
Party for Texas Railroad Commissioner.
Upon his defeat, Hector redirected
his professional focus to government
relations. As a government consultant
he has assisted in the formulation
and adoption of legislative initiative
strategies for a diverse number
of interests and clients, including
business trade organizations, governmental
entities, Fortune 500 corporations,
and Native Americans, such as the
Texas Kickapoos.
ADMISSIONS TO PRACTICE
Hector is a member of the State
Bar of Texas and is licensed to
practice before the United States
District Court for the Southern
District of Texas and the United
States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit.
LAW PRACTICE EXPERIENCE
Hector began his law practice
in El Paso, Texas as a Howard University,
Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and
participated as counsel in a number
of civil rights lawsuits. Subsequently,
he joined Texas Rural Legal Services
as a poverty lawyer in the Rio
Grande Valley. Thereafter, as an
attorney with the American Friends
Service Committee he represented
a consortium of poverty groups
and non-profit organizations and
finally made his transition into
private law practice.
Hector successfully handled a
wide variety of matters, both civil
and criminal. Hector, has also
represented a number of governmental
entities including municipalities,
school districts, water districts
and water supply corporations.
While
in the Senate, Hector was instrumental
in persuading lawyers for the
Mexican American and Legal Education
Fund to question the legality
of the state's failure
to provide access to graduate degree
programs and professional schools
at traditionally Hispanic institutions
along the border and in South Texas.
He served as local counsel in Brownsville
to MALDEF attorneys that prosecuted
the case that ultimately spurred
a legislative response to the inequity.
EDUCATION
An English major, Hector received
his Bachelor of Arts and Juris
Doctor degrees from the University
of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
He also attended the University
of Madrid in Spain.
CIVIC ACTIVITIES
Hector has served on the board
of directors of several non-profit
corporations in Austin. As an appointee
of the Texas Senate Hispanic Caucus
he has served as president and
treasurer of the board of directors
of the Senate Hispanic Research
Council, Inc. As an appointee of
the City Council for the City of
Austin, he served on the Board
of Directors of Arts Center Stage.
He has also served on the board
of directors of Austin Lyric Opera,
Mexicarte Museum and the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce. He has been
an active member of the Old West
Austin Neighborhood Association.
MISCELLANEOUS
A
Texas native, Hector is proud
to be "at least a sixth generation
Texan." In addition to his
many duties, he has taught two
government courses, as an adjunct
lecturer at the University of Texas' Center
for Mexican American Studies. Until
recently, he managed his family's
real estate and ranch holdings
in the Valley and South Texas.
As a private practitioner he has
successfully managed his business
and met payroll for over 25 years.
The
arts are more than a hobby for
Hector. He is a professional
actor and has recently played
the Secretary of Energy in "Oil
Storm" a FOX TV docudrama
about a hurricane that devastates
the Louisiana coast. Most recently
he may be seen in "Land of
Shadowed Sand" an independent
film directed by Austin Hice. Earlier
he produced and appeared in a principal
role, in Lawrence Wright's
hilarious comedy about the Texas
House of Representatives, "Sonny's
Last Shot."
