Harvey Hilderbran

Legislative matters

Hilderbran was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1988 and was most recently re-elected to his last term in 2012.

In 2011, he was appointed by Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Joe Straus as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which deals will legislation relating to the state’s tax code. As chairman of the committee, Hilderbran sits on the Legislative Audit Committee and the Legislative Budget Board. The board prepares the draft appropriations bill along with budget estimates for each state agency. Hilderban also serves as a member of the Redistricting Committee, State Affairs Committee, and the Select Committee on Voter Identification and Voter Fraud.

From 2003–2008, he served as chairman of the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism. As chairman of the committee, Hilderbran oversaw the regulation and control of hunting and fishing, the preservation of wildlife and fish, the operation and control of state parks, the development and regulation of the state's cultural and historical resources, and the promotion of international and interstate tourism. The committee has jurisdiction over the Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Historical Commission, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Like his friend and late colleague, Edmund Kuempel of Seguin, Hilderbran is an advocate of restoration and expansion of the Texas parks system. During the 80th Legislative Session, he authored a comprehensive funding bill aimed at both state parks and historic sites. H.B. 12 provided approximately $91 million in additional funding annually for state and local parks.

During his tenure with the House of Representatives, Hilderbran served for three sessions as the chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. In 1995, he wrote and passed landmark welfare reform. In 1997, he was instrumental in passing the state's most significant legislation protecting residents of Texas nursing homes.

Additionally, Hilderbran previously served as a member of the Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as it relates to the regulation of water resources, and the Texas Water Development Board. He served as co-chairman, along with former State Senator Kip Averitt, of the legislative oversight committee for the Edwards Aquifer Authority.

In 2008, the Texas Deer Association awarded Hilderbran the "Frank Madla Award for Representative of the Year", named for the late State Senator Frank L. Madla of San Antonio. Hilderbran was also named "Legislator of the Year" in 2007 by the Texas Municipal League, and was the recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Legislator Award by the Texas Recreation and Parks Society.

Hilderbran in 2004 was named the recipient of the Vietnam Veterans of America Texas State Council's "Legislator of the Year Award", as well as the 2001 "Legislator of the Year" award by Texas Young Republicans. In 1999, he received the "Bob Bullock Award for Outstanding Public Stewardship", named for former Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock. Hilderbran also won the "Legislative Courage Award" for his involvement in school finance reform. He was named "Freshman of the Year" in 1989 by the Young Conservatives of Texas.

Businessman Andrew Stevenson Murr (born c. 1977) of Junction, Texas, led the March 4 primary to succeed Representative Hilderbran with 9,951 votes (41 percent). Robert Earl "Rob" Henneke (also born c. 1977), a Kerrville lawyer, received 7,030 (29 percent). In third place was Karen D. Harris (born c. 1969) of Kerrville with 5,840 votes (24 percent). Two others held the remaining 6 percent of the ballots cast. Andrew Murr faced the second highest vote-getter, Robert Earl "Rob" Henneke, in a May 27 runoff, winning 9,387 (60.6 percent) to 6,100 (39.4 percent). Without a Democratic Party nominee in District 53, Murr defeated the Libertarian nominee, Maximiliam Martin, 36,878 votes (89.9 percent) to 4,139 (10.1 percent) in the general election on November 4.

Personal life

After graduation in 1983 from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Hilderbran was a congressional legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., in the areas of agriculture and small business. He was thereafter the assistant director of state affairs for the Texas Farm Bureau, where he concentrated his efforts on property and water rights.

In the private sector, Hilderbran has worked in real estate, ranching, advertising, and business management. He and his wife, the former Tracy Lynn Haegelin (born ca. 1963), and their two daughters reside in Kerrville, where they are members of St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

In 2003, he established his Hilderbran Scholarship Fund, an annual award to a graduating high school senior from House District 53 to assist in meeting college expenses.