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Texas Farm Bureau
Legislative Staff
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| Fax Numbers: Austin: 512-472-9120 Waco: 254-751-8723 |
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Jim Sartwelle
TFB Public Policy Director
254-751-2654
jsartwelle@txfb.org
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Jim Sartwelle is the
director of Public Policy with the Texas Farm Bureau. Sartwelle joined the TFB senior
management staff in December 2009.
He directs the TFB Legislative; Commodity and Regulatory Activities; as well as
Research, Education, and Policy Development departments. These departments coordinate member
involvement and county Farm Bureau participation in public
policy matters at all levels of government.
Sartwelle was reared in Sealy, Austin County, Texas.
He and his father operate Sartwelle Brahman Ranch, a family-owned
seedstock and commercial cow-calf ranch founded in 1914. He holds a B.S. degree from
Texas A&M University and M.S. degree from Kansas State
University, both in Agricultural Economics.
Sartwelle
previously served more than three years as the Livestock Economist for the
American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C
Prior to his time with AFBF, he served as an Extension agricultural economist
for 12 years, based in Garden City, Kansas; Amarillo, Texas; and College Station,
Texas. Sartwelle, his wife Beth, and sons
J.D. and Brock, reside in Robinson.
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Steve Pringle
TFB Legislative Director
State & National
254-751-2208
springle@txfb.org
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Stephen Pringle has served as Legislative Director for the Texas Farm Bureau since June 1989. Prior to this, he was the state affairs director and general manager of the International Association of Drilling Contractors in Houston for seven years. Born in Marlin, Texas, Pringle received his bachelor of arts degree in Finance from Texas A&M University in 1971. He served as first lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1973.
Before working with the International Association of Drilling Contractors, Pringle worked as staff consultant to the Committee on Agriculture in the U.S. Congress from 1973 to 1976; then as assistant to the president of Texas A&M University from 1976 to 1979; and as state executive director to the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service/USDA from 1979 to 1981.
Pringle was a Congressional Staff Advisor to the American Delegation at the World Food Conference in Rome, Italy in 1974. He has also been active in the Governmental Relations Council for the Houston Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Washington, D.C.
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Ken Hodges
TFB Associate
Legislative Director
254-751-8741
khodges@txfb.org
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Ken Hodges, who joined the TFB field staff on June
1, 1998, now serves as Associate Legislative Director. Hodges was raised on a
farm where wheat, milo and cattle were the major commodities, and he continues
to participate in his brother's operation of the family farm. His parents were
Farm Bureau members while he was growing up.
After earning his Bachelor's degree from Texas Tech
University, Hodges worked as an intern and staff assistant in several
legislative offices in Washington, D.C. Before coming to Texas Farm Bureau,
Hodges worked as a legislative assistant in the offices of U.S. Congressman Sam
Johnson and Mac Thornberry, handling ag-related issues as well as issues
pertaining to business, energy, and transportation, among others. During his
four-year tenure on Capitol Hill, Hodges worked closely with the congressmen's
constituents, federal agencies and interest groups, including Farm Bureau.
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Billy Howe
TFB State
Legislative Director
512-472-8288
bhowe@txfb.org
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Billy Howe
came to Texas Farm
Bureau as an Associate Legislative Director in September 1999. Before coming to
Texas Farm Bureau, he worked in the Texas House of Representatives from 1993
until 1999 as a legislative aide and chief committee clerk. Howe was promoted to
State Legislative Director for Texas Farm Bureau in May 2002.
Howe monitors environmental regulation, property rights, and water policy issues
for Texas Farm Bureau. He also supervises the administrative and legislative
staff at the State Legislative Office in Austin.
Howe grew up in the farming community of Itasca, Texas, where he worked for
local farmers and ranchers. He graduated from Itasca High School in 1988, and
then spent two years at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. Howe earned his
Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Louisiana State University in 1993.
Howe and his wife, Courtney have two young children–a daughter, Peyton, and a
son, William.
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Regan Beck
TFB Associate
Legislative Director
512-472-8288
rbeck@txfb.org
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Regan E. Beck joined Texas Farm Bureau as an Associate Legislative Director in January 2006. Beck grew up on a ranch and worked as a full time rancher raising cattle, sheep, and goats from 1986-2002. During this time, he was very involved with Texas Farm Bureau, serving on the Concho County FB Board as both secretary-treasurer for four years and as president for five years. He has served on numerous Texas Farm Bureau state committees, including Sheep and Goat, Animal Health, Natural Resources, and Resolutions. Beck has been appointed to his second term as a member of the USDA National Wildlife Services Advisory Committee. Beck also participated in Texas Farm Bureau AgLead III.
Beck holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas, as well as an MBA from Angelo State University, and most recently earned his J.D. from the University of Texas in Austin. During the 79th session of the Texas Legislature, Beck worked as a legal intern in the TFB Legislative office while completing his law degree.
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Norman Garza Jr.
TFB Associate
Legislative Director
512-472-8288
ngarza@txfb.org
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Norman Garza Jr. joined the Texas Farm Bureau lobby team as Associate Legislative Director
in December 2008.
Born in Harlingen, Garza is an eighth-generation Texan with roots across the
Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. Reared in
Pleasanton, his family maintains a small Beef Master Cattle operation
near Verdi in Atascosa County.
Garza earned a Bachelor degree in Political Science from Saint
Edward’s University in Austin. He is currently working on a Master's
of Business Administration, also at Saint Edward’s.
Since 2003, Garza
has worked in various capacities for state legislators. In the past, he has also worked for
judicial, senatorial, and presidential campaigns.
Garza monitors criminal justice, education, economic development,
rural affairs, and transportation legislative issues for Texas Farm Bureau.
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