His Masters Voice:

April 10, 2015

Lawmakers Line Up
To End Frack Attacks
Industry Gave Lawmakers $5.5 Million in Latest Cycle

he Energy and Natural Resources industry was the No. 1 funder of Texas politicians in the 2014 cycle, supplying 17
cents of every non-judicial campaign dollar. No
wonder swarms of lawmakers rushed to the rescue when the industry complained about local
governments restricting fracking operations. As
state officials indulge such fracking hazards as
earthquakes, air, noise and water pollution, local
governments are fighting back.
Oil and gas interests gave 31 Texas Senators a
total of $1.7 million in the 2014 cycle, or an average of more than $56,000 apiece. They gave
$3.8 million to 144 Texas House membersor
an average of more than $25,000 each. Researchers did not find oil and gas money in the
war chests of five members: Roberto Alonzo,
Ana Hernandez, Celia Israel, Gilbert Pena and
Ron Reynolds (district 124 is currently vacant).
At least five bills have been introduced to curtail
local regulation of the oil and gas industry.1 HB
40 and an identical SB 1165 are the greased
frontrunners. Lead authors Drew Darby and
Troy Fraser chair the House Energy Resources

and Senate Natural Resources Committees that

already passed these measures.
About half of the top oil-and-gas contributors to
current lawmakers have publicly endorsed these
lead bills to preempt fracking regulations (see
table on page 3). In perhaps the best measure of
the industrys political sponsorships, more than a
third of the House signed on to sponsor HB 40.
Fraser leads the senate in dependency on oil and
gas, which supplied 19 percent of his latest war
chest. The energized senator also has a bill to
end the states wildly successful renewableelectricity mandate and another to make it harder
for citizens to contest permits for industrial facilities such as power plants and refineries.
The data below understate the political influence
of oil and gas interests. Tea-Party-aligned Empower Texans is not treated as oil-and-gas PAC,
even though 99 percent of its money came from
that sector (led by Empower founder Tim
Dunn). Treating Empower as oil-and-gas money
would boost Sen. Konni Burtons dependence on
this sector, for example, from 9 to 13 percent.

Senate Financial Dependency on Oil & Gas (2013 & 2014)

Oil & Gas
Oil-Gas
Dist.
Top Oil/Gas
Donations
% of Total
Senator
(Party)
Donor(s)
*Troy Fraser
$111,351
19.4%
24 (R)
Julia J. Matthews (Dodge Jones)
$107,166
18.2%
Van Taylor
8 (R)
Catherine Taylor (Taylor Ent.)
*Kel Seliger
$157,463
13.2%
31 (R)
Don Wood (Permian Ent.)
Robert Hall
$54,050
10.3%
2 (R)
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech)
Kelly Hancock
$71,001
9.7%
9 (R)
Good Gov. Fund (Bass Bros.)
Craig Estes
$56,101
9.6%
30 (R)
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
$261,667
9.4%
*Konni Burton
10 (R)
Tim Dunn (CrownQuest)
$66,750
8%
Jane Nelson
12 (R)
Edward Bass (Bass Bros.)
$20,250
7.3%
Jose Menendez
26 (D)
William Greehey (NuStar)
$77,900
6.9%
Lois Kolkhorst
18 (R)
Charles Scianna (Sim-Tex)
$52,001
6.7%
Joan Huffman
17 (R)
Ray Davis (Avatar Investments)
$65,350
6.5%
Charles Perry
28 (R)
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech)
Chuy Hinojosa
$83,654
6.2%
20 (D)
Sam Susser (Susser Holdings)
$118,900
6.1%
Don Huffines
16 (R)
Al Hill Jr. (AG Hill Partners)
$56,207
5.4%
Senate Average
Charlie Uresti
$44,250
5.2%
19 (D)
Atmos Energy
Robert Nichols
$43,751
4.8%
3 (R)
Paul Foster (West. Rfg.)/Occidental
$24,951
4.1%
Paul Bettencourt
7 (R)
David/Windi Grimes (Grimes Energy)
$75,101
3.8%
Brandon Creighton
4 (R)
Jeff Sandefer (Sandefer Capital)
$38,950
3.6%
Charles Schwertner
5 (R)
Atmos Energy
$27,500
3.6%
*Kevin Eltife
1 (R)
Good Gov./PSEL PACs (Bass Bros.)
Brian Birdwell
$17,500
3.2%
22 (R)
Atmos Energy
Judith Zaffirini
$38,250
2.6%
21 (D)
Norbert Dickman (Fasken Oil)
*Eddie Lucio Jr
$12,250
2.2%
27 (D)
Atmos Energy
$11,001
2.2%
Rodney Ellis
13 (D)
Atmos Energy
$36,001
1.9%
Larry Taylor
11 (R)
Atmos Energy
$23,000
1.7%
*Donna Campbell
25 (R)
Walter Brown (DelRay Oil)
$20,001
1.5%
John Whitmire
15 (D)
TX Energy Assn.
$9,050
1.2%
Royce West
23 (D)
Atmos Energy
$12,500
0.7%
Sylvia Garcia
6 (D)
TX Energy Assn.
$4,500
0.5%
Kirk Watson
14 (D)
Four-way tie
$250
0.1%
Jose Rodriguez
29 (D)
Oneok PAC
$1,742,408
5.4%
TOTALS
Bold: Sits on Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development Committee.
*Sponsor of Senate Bill 1165.

Top Oil-Gas Contributors to all Current Lawmakers

(2013 & 2014)
Lawmaker
Total
Contributor
$295,942 *Atmos Energy
$239,500 Farris & Joann Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
$176,500 Chesapeake Energy
$174,707 *TX Oil & Gas Assn. PAC
$165,750 Good Government Fund [Bass family]
$165,100 *Koch Industries PAC
$163,000 *Valero PAC
$154,452 Timothy M & Terri Dunn (CrownQuest/Enerquest Oil)
$143,400 Jeff Davis & Laura Sandefer (Sandefer Capital)
$132,500 NuStar Energy PAC
$128,350 *Marathon Oil PAC
$110,835 Curtis W Mewbourne (Mewbourne Oil Co.)
$108,507 Trevor & Janice Rees-Jones (Chief Oil & Gas)
$87,750 PSEL PAC [Bass family]
$85,000 *Occidental Petroleum PAC
$82,500 Al G Hill Jr (A.G. Hill Partners)
$82,000 Edward P Bass (Bass Brothers Enterprises)
$78,000 Tenaska Employees PAC
$76,500 Kyle L Stallings (Permian Basin Acquisitions)
$75,000 Dan & Staci Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
$67,750 MJB Operating LP
$66,000 *Chevron TX Employees PAC
$64,715 Julia Jones Matthews (Dodge Jones Foundation)
$64,581 Sam & Lydia Susser (Susser Holdings)
$59,500 *Energy Transfer Partners
$59,500 Dan Allen Hughes Jr (Dan A. Hughes Co.)
$55,500 *BP North America PAC
$54,267 Paul L Foster (Western Refining Co.)
$53,467 David M & Windi Grimes (Grimes Energy Co.)
$53,250 *Devon Energy Corp PAC
$53,000 J Ralph Ellis (Belmont Oil & Gas Corp.)
$49,400 Catherine Trinka Taylor (Taylor Enterprises)
$46,250 Denbury Resources PAC
$43,528 Phillips 66 PAC
$43,500 Ray L Hunt (Hunt Consolidated)
$40,500 *ConocoPhillips PAC
$39,462 *Pioneer Natural Resources PAC
$36,400 Donald E & Lynne Wood (Permian Enterprises)
$36,057 *TX Pipleline Assn. PAC
$35,950 *Oneok Employees PAC
$35,500 Spectra Energy Corp
$35,000 *ExxonMobil Corp PAC
$34,427 Mickey L & Renee Long (Westex Well Services)
$34,000 William E Greehey (NuStar Energy)
$32,000 *Anadarko Petroleum Corp
$31,000 Charles Dick Saulsbury (Saulsbury Industries)
*Endorsed one or more bills to restrict local fracking bans.

City
Dallas
Cisco
OK City
Austin
Fort Worth
Washington
San Antonio
Midland
Austin
San Antonio
Houston
Tyler
Dallas
Fort Worth
Los Angeles
Dallas
Fort Worth
Omaha
Midland
Cisco
Dallas
Austin
Abilene
Corpus
Houston
Beeville
Warrenville IL
El Paso
Houston
OK City
Irving
Dallas
Plano
Houston
Dallas
Houston
Dallas
Odessa
Austin
Tulsa OK
Houston
Irving
Midland
San Antonio
Woodlands
Odessa

Favorite
Lawmakers
Straus, Hinojosa
Burton, Shaheen
Straus, Fraser
Straus, Keffer
Straus, Nelson
Straus, Hunter
Straus, Fraser, Hunter
Burton, Krause
Sc. Turner, Creighton, Perry
Straus, Alvarado, Uresti
Keffer, Straus
Straus, Cook, Keffer
Keffer, Meyer, Villalba
Straus, Creighton, Geren
Seven-way tie
Huffines, Meyer
Straus, Nelson
Straus
Sc. Turner, Stickland
Schaefer, Buton
Straus, Estes, Nichols
Four-way tie
Fraser, Keffer
Hinojosa, Straus
Straus, Fraser
Straus, Hunter, Otto
Seliger, Kolkhorst, Turner
Huffines, Marquez
Sc. Turner, Hall
Straus
Straus
V. Taylor, Straus
V. Taylor, E. Thompson
Straus, Huffman, Seliger
Straus, Koop, Meyer
Straus, Seliger
Seliger, Straus
Seliger, Craddick
Fraser, Straus, Darby
Straus, Fraser, Isaac
Straus, Fraser, Hinojosa
Five-way ties
Straus, Darby, Seliger
Straus, Menendez
Creighton, Straus
Stickland, Landgraf, Burton

House Financial Dependency on Oil & Gas (2013 & 2014)

Oil & Gas
Donations
$236,945
$63,450
$53,824
$44,500
$183,301
$38,003
$30,250
$64,699
$21,500
$43,975
$17,250
$22,900
$92,150
$42,001
$17,376
$53,200
$41,501
$22,750
$63,600
$32,150
$1,022,322
$35,851
$118,950
$20,850
$45,500
$6,000
$29,600
$32,050
$16,500
$10,000
$5,200
$17,400
$25,001
$64,251
$16,750
$7,950
$21,900
$7,500
$7,250
$21,001
$23,501
$7,000
$6,250
$7,080
$25,350
$24,001
$21,250
$14,500

Oil-Gas
% of Total
35.1%
35%
31.3%
20.4%
18.7%
18.6%
15.1%
14.6%
14.4%
14.3%
13.8%
13.3%
13.2%
13.1%
13.1%
12.6%
12.4%
12.2%
12.2%
12.2%
11.4%
10.2%
9.3%
9.3%
8.9%
8.7%
8.6%
8.6%
8.3%
8.3%
8.2%
8.2%
8.1%
8.1%
8%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.5%
7.4%
7.4%
7.4%
7.1%
6.9%
6.9%
6.7%
6.5%
6.4%

Representative
*Scott Turner
Tom Craddick
*Matt Krause
*Brooks Landgraf
*Jim Keffer
*David Simpson
Ken King
*Matt Schaefer
*James Frank
*Chris Paddie
Terry Canales
*Bryan Hughes
Charlie Geren
Myra Crownover
Gene Wu
*Jason Villalba
*Phil King
John Frullo
*Jonathan Stickland
Matt Shaheen
Joe Straus
*Tony Dale
*Morgan Meyer
Abel Herrero
Byron Cook
Stephanie Klick
Jim Murphy
Lyle Larson
*B Allen Fletcher
*Drew Springer
*Bill Zedler
*Tracy King
Dennis Bonnen
*Drew Darby
*Patricia Harless
Dustin Burrows
Susan King
Ruth Jones McClendon
*Stuart Spitzer
Doug Miller
*Trent Ashby
*Scott Sanford
*Molly White
*James White
House Average
Wayne Smith
John Kuempel
Craig Goldman

Dist.
(Party)
33 (R)
82 (R)
93 (R)
81 (R)
60 (R)
7 (R)
88 (R)
6 (R)
69 (R)
9 (R)
40 (D)
5 (R)
5 (R)
64 (R)
137 (D)
114 (R)
61 (R)
84 (R)
92 (R)
92 (R)
121 (R)
136 (R)
108 (R)
34 (D)
8 (R)
91 (R)
133 (R)
122 (R)
130 (R)
68 (R)
96 (R)
80 (D)
25 (R)
72 (R)
126 (R)
83 (R)
71 (R)
120 (D)
4 (R)
73 (R)
57 (R)
70 (R)
55 (R)
19 (R)

Top Oil/Gas Donor(s)

Wallace Hall/Jeff Sandefer
Donald Wood (Permian Ent.)
Tim Dunn (CrownQuest)
Dick Saulsbury (Saulsbury Industries)
Trevor Rees-Jones (Chief Oil)
Daniel Mitchell (Danmark Energy)
Monty James (Drilling Fluids Tech.)
Dan Wilks (Frac Tech Serice)
Tom Medders (Medders Oil)
Ken Carlile (Carlile Companies)
Atmos Energy
Ken Carlile (Carlile Companies)
Good Gov. Fund (Bass Bros.)
Koch Industries
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
Trevor Rees-Jones (Chief Oil)
G. Malcolm Louden (Walsh Holdings)
Kirk Rogers (SK Rogers Oil)
Kyle Stallings (Permian Basin Acq.)
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Curtis Mewbourne (Mewbourne Oil)
Aubrey Holt (Bench Tree Group)
Three-way tie
Sam Susser (Susser Holdings)
Koch Industries
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Koch Industries
NuStar Energy
Charles Scianna (Sim-Tex)
Koch Industries
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Chesapeake Energy
Koch Industries
Mickey Long (WesTex Well Services)
Marathon Oil Co.
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Julia J. Matthews (Dodge Jones Fdn.)
NuStar Energy
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Atmos Energy
Dan Hughes (Dan A. Hughes Co.)
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Farris Wilks (Frac Tech Service)
Koch Industries

128 (R)
44 (R)
97 (R)

Koch Industries
Dan Hughes (Dan A. Hughes Co.)
Good Gov. Fund (Bass Bros.)

$36,501
$40,100
$86,051
$24,450
$2,500
$13,000
$28,000
$38,000
$12,750
$17,500
$9,000
$6,000
$10,000
$14,750
$15,501
$12,000
$37,098
$38,916
$14,500
$25,048
$25,751
$9,000
$11,000
$10,500
$23,517
$3,500
$7,750
$11,601
$19,800
$5,750
$5,250
$16,751
$4,250
$9,250
$18,750
$45,451
$5,925
$3,750
$8,750
$4,500
$5,000
$2,200
$3,000
$6,500
$6,600
$7,501
$3,750
$6,750
$6,500
$6,500
$6,600

6.4%
6.4%
6.3%
6.2%
6.1%
6.1%
5.7%
5.7%
5.5%
5.3%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5%
4.9%
4.9%
4.6%
4.6%
4.6%
4.2%
4.2%
4.2%
4.1%
4%
4%
3.9%
3.9%
3.9%
3.9%
3.9%
3.7%
3.6%
3.5%
3.5%
3.5%
3.5%
3.4%
3.4%
3.4%
3.3%
3.3%
3.2%
3.2%
3.1%
3.1%
3.1%
3.1%
3%
2.9%
2.9%
2.7%

John Otto
Walter Four Price
Todd Hunter
*Travis Clardy
Leighton Schubert
*Matt Rinaldi
*J M Lozano
Richard Raymond
*Jeff Leach
Rafael Anchia
Ed Thompson
Geanie Morrison
*Tony Tinderholt
Tan Parker
*Kyle Kacal
Chris Turner
Kenneth Sheets
*Sarah Davis
*Ryan Guillen
Cindy Burkett
*Jason Isaac
Justin Rodriguez
Eddie Lucio III
*Dwayne Bohac
Marisa Marquez
Doc Anderson
Dan Huberty
John Wray
Linda Koop
Joe Deshotel
Harold Dutton Jr
Angie Chen Button
Marsha Farney
Mike Schofield
Rodney Anderson
*Carol Alvarado
*Cecil Bell Jr
*Oscar Longoria Jr
Bobby Guerra
*Giovanni Capriglione
Phil Stephenson
*Mark Keough
Dawnna Dukes
*Jimmie Don Aycock
John Raney
Larry Phillips
*Ron Simmons
Joe Pickett
*Dan Flynn
Pat Fallon
Dade Phelan

18 (R)
87 (R)
32 (R)
11 (R)
13 (R)
115 (R)
43 (R)
42 (D)
67 (R)
103 (D)
29 (R)
30 (R)
94 (R)
63 (R)
12 (R)
101 (D)
107 (R)
134 (R)
31 (D)
113 (R)
45 (R)
125 (D)
38 (D)
138 (R)
77 (D)
56 (R)
127 (R)
10 (R)
102 (R)
22 (D)
142 (D)
112 (R)
20 (R)
132 (R)
105 (R)
145 (D)
3 (R)
35 (D)
41 (D)
98 (R)
85 (R)
15 (R)
46 (D)
54 (R)
14 (R)
62 (R)
65 (R)
79 (D)
2 (R)
106 (R)
21 (R)

Dan Hughes (Dan A. Hughes Co.)

Ralph Ellis (Bevo Prod.)/Dan Hughes
Sam Susser (Susser Holdings)
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
Christopher Evers (Evers & Sons)
Jeff Sandefer/Farris Wilks
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
Alfonso Arguindegui (Arguindegui Oil)
TX Energy Assn./Farris Wilks
Atmos Energy
Denbury Resources
Koch Industries
Jeff Sandefer/Farris Wilks
Atmos Energy
Atmos Energy
Good Gov. Fund (Bass Bros.)
Trevor Rees-Jones (Chief Oil)
Patrick Rutherford (Rutherford Oil)
Chesapeake Energy
Trevor Rees-Jones (Chief Oil)
Koch Industries
William Greehey (NuStar Energy)
Atmos Energy
Larry Buxton (Buxton Interests)
Paul Foster (Western Refining)
Atmos Energy
Chesapeake Energy
Ali Sharaf (Victron Energy)
Al Hill Jr. (AG Hill Partners)
Valero PAC
Atmos Energy/Chesapeake Energy
Trevor Rees-Jones (Chief Oil)
Atmos Energy
Koch Industries
Trevor Rees-Jones (Chief Oil)
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
Denbury Resources
Occidental Petroleum Corp
Koch Industries
Good Gov. Fund (Bass Bros.)
David Pratka/Ramiro Ramirez (Vi-Wolf)
ExxonMobil Corp
Koch Industries
Atmos Energy
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
Atmos Energy/Chesapeake Energy
Atmos Energy
Chesapeake Energy
Atmos Energy
Atmos Energy
Koch Industries

$7,426
2.7% Will Metcalf
$7,501
2.5% Greg Bonnen
$2,500
2.3% Rick Miller
$2,000
2.1% *Poncho Nevarez
$5,361
2% DeWayne Burns
$5,250
2% *Paul Workman
$5,750
2% *Rene Oliveira
$2,500
1.9% Donna Howard
$2,500
1.8% Gary Elkins
$3,100
1.8% Jessica Farrar
$2,000
1.8% Nicole Collier
$6,000
1.8% Ramon Romero
$2,750
1.7% Dennis Paul
$4,000
1.7% Larry Gonzales
$3,250
1.7% *Armando Martinez
$5,500
1.7% Sergio Munoz
$14,500
1.7% Trey Martinez Fischer
$6,500
1.6% Garnet Coleman
$8,251
1.6% *Senfronia Thompson
$5,500
1.5% J D Sheffield
$1,500
1.5% John Smithee
$7,500
1.4% John Zerwas
$1,000
1.3% Armando Walle Jr
$1,000
1.3% Diego Bernal
$2,500
1.3% Eddie Rodriguez
$1,500
1.3% Toni Rose
$4,000
1.3% Yvonne Davis
$10,201
1.2% Sylvester Turner
$3,750
1.1% *Andrew Murr
$1,000
0.9% Alma Allen
$1,500
0.9% Helen Giddings
$4,000
0.8% Cesar Blanco
$750
0.8% Joe Moody
$1,000
0.7% *Debbie Riddle
$1,000
0.7% Gary VanDeaver
$500
0.7% Joe Farias
$11,350
0.6% Wayne Faircloth
$1,550
0.5% *Rick Galindo
$500
0.5% Elliott Naishtat
$1,750
0.5% Eric Johnson
$1,250
0.5% Mary Edna Gonzalez
$500
0.5% Roland Gutierrez
$250
0.3% John Cyrier
$500
0.2% *Jodie Laubenberg
$250
0.2% Borris Lee Miles
$300
0.1% Hubert Vo
$3,777,135
6.90% TOTAL
Bold = Sits on Energy Resources Committee.
*Author or coauthor of House Bill 40.
1

16 (R)
24 (R)
26 (R)
74 (D)
58 (R)
47 (R)
37 (D)
48 (D)
135 (R)
148 (D)
95 (D)
90 (D)
129 (R)
52 (R)
39 (D)
36 (D)
116 (D)
147 (D)
141 (D)
59 (R)
86 (R)
28 (R)
140 (D)
123 (D)
51 (D)
110 (D)
111 (D)
139 (D)
53 (R)
131 (D)
109 (D)
76 (D)
78 (D)
150 (R)
1 (R)
118 (D)
23 (R)
117 (R)
49 (D)
100 (D)
75 (D)
119 (D)
17 (R)
89 (R)
146 (D)
149 (D)

Valero
Koch Industries
Energy Transfer Partners/Jim Wise
Atmos Energy
Atmos Energy
Koch Industries
Tenaska
NuStar Energy
Koch Industries
Atmos Energy/Charles Grichar
Atmos Energy
Five-way tie
Pat Black (Apache Corp)
Atmos Energy
Atmos Energy
Occidental Petroleum/Valero
Charles Matthews (Exxon)
William Hill (Houston Oil Producing)
NuStar Energy
TX Oil & Gas Assn.
Atmos Energy
Chesapeake Energy
Atmos Energy
Valero
MJB Operating/Tenaska
Atmos Energy
PSEL PAC (Bass Bros.)
BP North America
Stephen King (King Energy)
Three-way tie
Chevron
Paul Foster (Western Refining)
MJB Operating
Chevron
ExxonMobil Corp
NuStar Energy
Marathon Oil Co.
ExxonMobil Corp
Oneok
Tenaska
Lee Fikes (Bonanza Oil)
NuStar Energy
Jimmy Luecke (Luecke Ranching)
Chevron
Hugo Gutierrez (Marathon Oil)
John Martinez (Production Associates)

HB 40 (Darby), SB 1165 (Fraser), SB 440 (Burton) and HB 539 and HB 540 (both by Phil King).