Joe Deshotel

Texas Watch Puts Legislator on Honor Roll

AUSTIN – Texas Watch, a nonprofit homeowner’s insurance advocacy group, named local State Representative Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, on its 2009 Legislative Honor Roll.

Deshotel, who Chairs the House Business and Industry Committee, is the only Golden Triangle lawmaker to make the honor roll.. The bipartisan group of lawmakers on this year’s Texas Watch Legislative Honor Roll come from every corner of the state and represents diverse districts.

Texas Watch advocates for issues from homeowner rights and insurance reform to worker safety and access to the civil justice system. Texas Watch currently has 10,000 grassroots activist members across the state. It is considered to be one of the most influential consumer voices in Texas.

“To be recognized by Texas Watch is an honor valued by my fellow colleagues,” Deshotel stated, “I’m humbled by this but we know there is still a lot of work in restoring homeowner’s policies and legal rights.”

“The lawmakers on our Honor Roll prove that regardless of party, geography, ethnicity, or political philosophy, we should all be able to agree that Texas families should always come first,” said Alex Winslow, Texas Watch's Executive Director.

"Chairman Deshotel's leadership this session was crucial in the fight to level the playing field between homeowners and the powerful homebuilding lobby,” Winslow continued, “Chairman Deshotel also stood tall on the floor of the House as a leader advocating on behalf of small businesses, workers, and insurance policyholders, "The people of Jefferson County and all of Texas are better off because Chairman Deshotel is fighting on their behalf.”

Deshotel said he “will continue to work with Texas Watch and other organizations and companies to provide fair and balanced policies that work for Southeast Texas homeowners and families."

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