Jason Isaac

Background

A fourth-generation Texan born in Houston, Isaac was because of his father's career largely reared in Virginia, where he graduated from high school. He returned to Texas to attend Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, from which he graduated in 1996 with a major in Marketing and a minor in Management. At Stephen F. Austin University, Isaac took the lead to establish lacrosse as a team sport. He is the president of the Central Texas Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse and a board member on the Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association.

Much of Isaac's work as a transportation consultant has been toward the enhancement of the efficiency, profitability, and safety record of the trucking industry.

Representative Isaac was reared in the United Methodist Church. He and his wife, the former Carrie Lynn Crain are members of The Church of Christ.

Jason and Carrie met in college and married two years after her graduation. She is a native of Humble near Houston and a 1988 graduate of Humble High School. Her parents are Eddie Ray Crain and the former Connie Marie Thomas. The Isaacs have two sons, Aidan Isaac (born 2002) and Landon Isaac (born 2004), who attend public schools in Dripping Springs.

Legislative record

In the 2010 general election, Isaac unseated the young four-term Democratic incumbent representative, Patrick Rose of Dripping Springs, 27,715 votes (53.9 percent) to Rose's 23,691 (46.1 percent). In May 2010, Speaker Joe Straus, a Moderate Republican from San Antonio, headlined a fundraiser for Rose in the race against Isaac, who had been the underdog in the race. Many of Isaac's Republican constituents, including Hays County party chairman Bud Wymore, urged him to vote against Straus's successful bid for a second term as Speaker. Isaac instead did not vote in the Speaker's race, one of only two of the 150 House members to abstain. Isaac said that he believes Straus is sufficiently "conservative" to lead the House Republicans.

In 2012, Isaac won his second House term by about the same margin as he did in deposing Rose. He defeated another Democrat, this time with the same name as the second U.S. President, John Adams, 33,604 (53.6 percent) to 26,557 (42.4 percent). The remaining 2,495 votes (4 percent) went to the Libertarian Party nominee, Jim Duke. John Adams is a trustee of the Dripping Springs Independent School District and opposed Isaac's position on educational funding and women' s health issues, including Isaac's co-sponsorship of the sonogram requirement before a woman can procure an abortion in Texas.

Isaac is vice chairman of the House Rules and Resolutions Committee and a member of two other committees: (1) Environmental Regulation and (2) Economic and Small Business Development. He is also a member of the Subcommittee on Manufacturing. He founded the Hill Country Caucus in the Texas House.

Known for his conservative political stands, Isaac was named "Courageous Conservative" in both 2011 and 2013 by the Texas Conservative Coalition. Isaac maintains the viewpoint that lower taxes and limited government work to increase individual freedom.

Legislative voting records

A pro-life legislator, Isaac in 2013 supported the ban on abortion after twenty weeks of gestation; the measure passed the House, 96-49. He co-sponsored companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers, a move which opponents said could lead to closure of many such clinics. These issues brought forth an unsuccessful filibuster in the Texas State Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who in 2014 is the Democratic nominee for governor against the Republican Greg Abbott. In 2011, Isaac supported two other anti-abortion measures. One forbids state funding of agencies which perform abortions. The sonogram legislation is based on the view that a woman could change her mind about an abortion once she witnesses the development of the unborn child.

Isaac voted to establish a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools; the measure cleared the House, 73-58. He co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity. He supported the successful bill to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Isaac voted against the adoption of the biennial state budgets in 2013 but for the 2011 budget. He voted to require testing for narcotics of those individuals receiving unemployment compensation.

Isaac supported the measure to forbid the state from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms. He co-sponsored a similar measure to allow college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. He voted to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit. He backed the redistricting bills for the state House and Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

In 2011, Isaac voted to levy a sales tax on Internet transactions in order to match existing sales tax laws for brick and mortar stores. The measure passed the House 125-20. He supported picture identification of voters casting a ballot; the measure finally took effect in October 2013 and was used widely without incident in the primaries on March 4, 2014.

Interest group ratings

The Texas Conservative Coalition named him a "Courageous Conservative" following both the 2011 and 2013 legislative sessions. Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Isaac 86 percent favorable in 2013. The Young Conservatives of Texas gave him a cumulative score in 2013 of 73 percent. The Texas League of Conservation Voters rated him 64 percent; the Sierra Club, 53 percent in 2011. The interest group, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated Isaac 100 percent in 2011 and honored him that year with its "Taxpayer Champion" award. In 2013, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility rated him 89 percent. The Texas Association of Business gave him an 86 percent cumulative score in 2013, naming him a "Fighter for Free Enterprise." The National Rifle Association scored Isaac 100 percent in 2012.