Steven Dennis Wolens is an attorney in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He is a principal in the law firm,

McKool Smith McKool Smith is a U.S. trial firm with more than 130 trial lawyers across seven offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York City, and Washington, DC. The firm represents clients in disputes involving complex commercial li ...

, and serves on the

Texas Ethics Commission The Texas Ethics Commission was established in 1991 to "provide guidance on various public ethics laws" within the state of Texas. The agency is headquartered on the 10th Floor of the Sam Houston State Office Building at 201 East 14th Street in Dow ...

. Between 1981 to 2005, Wolens served as a

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

for District 103 in

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nint ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Early life and education

Wolens was born June 4, 1950 in Dallas and grew up in

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

, where his family owned the K. Wolens Department Store. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas in 1969. In 1973, he received his undergraduate degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with distinction and then earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Dedman School of Law SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its parent institution, Southern Meth ...

in 1976.

Government Service

A Democrat, Wolens was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1981 and served for 24 years. During his tenure, he authored legislation related to electricity deregulation, partnerships and limited liability corporations, and antitrust laws. From 1987 to 1992, Wolens served as Chair of the House Business and Commerce Committee. From 1997 to 2002, Wolens chaired the House State Affairs Committee. In the latter role, '' Texas Monthly''

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

noted that Wolens, "did things this session that were previously thought to be beyond the grasp of mortals. He made the Religious Right compromise on an abortion bill! He produced an electricity-deregulation bill that won the support of consumers, environmentalists, and utilities! He negotiated with the CEOs of two Fortune 500 companies over dinner and picked up the tab!" In 2003, as chair of the House Select Committee on Ethics, he authored and passed a complete revision of Texas ethics laws. After that success, ''Texas Monthly'' commented, “At the end of the session, he passed the best ethics bill in the history of the Texas Legislature… One of the great legislators of the modern era logged another big win.” ''Texas Monthly'' named Wolens one of the "Ten Best Legislators" in Texas on six different occasions, describing him as the "House's most dreaded foe and most welcome ally." Wolens has served on the

since 2016, including a stint as chair.

Controversy

As noted above, Wolens was a chief architect of Texas's decision to deregulate the state's

electricity market In a broad sense, an electricity market is a system that facilitates the exchange of electricity-related goods and services. During more than a century of evolution of the electric power industry, the economics of the electricity markets had un ...

. While broadly lauded in 1999, that decision led to the near collapse of the state's electrical grid in the winter of 2021. A lengthy

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

article on the disaster quoted Wolens, who indicated that the legislation intended to spur traditional and renewable energy sources and to encourage the shuttering of old, polluting plants. On those issues, Wolens is quoted, “we were successful." As the article pointed out, Wolens's 1999 legislation was a first iteration and was intended to evolve with the needs of the state.

Personal life

Wolens is married to former

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Laura Miller Laura Miller (born November 18, 1958) is an American journalist and politician who served as the 58th mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2002 through 2007. She decided not to run for re-election in 2007. She was the third woman to serve as mayor of Da ...

. They have 3 children and live in Dallas. He was a partner at the Dallas law firms of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

& Budd and Diamond & McCarthy. He has been a principal of the Dallas firm

since 2008. He is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolens, Steven D. 1950 births Living people Texas lawyers Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Spouses of Texas politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews

Early life and education

Government Service

Controversy

Personal life

See also

References