Raised in North Dallas and a resident of Denton County for over 30 years, Texas State Representative Burt Solomons focuses on what he sees as the job of representing his community and neighbors.
Although his family had only modest means, Burt’s parents made sure that education was a priority for him. After Burt graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, he attended Texas Tech University while also working at KLBK-TV in Lubbock, Texas starting off as a camera man and ending his career in TV as a switcher-director upon graduation. Having an interest in local governmental affairs, Burt received a graduate teaching fellowship at SMU and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. His first job upon graduating was an administrative assistant for the Mayor and City Manager of Richardson, Texas. From there he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he worked to put himself through the University of Tulsa law school, first working for UPS and then as a legal intern for a prominent law firm in Tulsa which utilized him to assist both litigators and transactional attorneys in the firm including doing research on various land titles for land donated to Oral Roberts University. This work focused his interest in real estate where he also became involved in municipal platting law.
Upon graduating, Burt moved back to Dallas and promptly used his legal skills to assist local governments. His first job was the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Denton, and eventually Acting City Attorney for a brief period. Asked to become General Counsel for Lawyer’s Title of Denton and Lewisville, this position gave Burt an opportunity to use his real estate skills and learn the title business from the inside. After five years working in the title business, Burt began his private law practice in Denton County and within the first year of doing so, was appointed to be the Municipal Judge of Carrollton, while continuing his law practice. He also later served part-time as an Assistant Municipal Judge for Lewisville and Flower Mound. In addition, he has served as the President of the Texas Municipal Courts Association and Provost of the Texas Supreme Court Judicial Education Advisory Committee, and attended the National Judicial College.
Over the years Burt became quite active in local community groups including various chambers of commerce, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Rotary Club, and was a Charter Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Denton County.
While working in the title industry, Burt met his wife, Jamie, who had been raised in Carrollton, graduating from R. L. Turner High School. The Solomons have lived in Carrollton since their first meeting a few years before they married in 1987 , and both became active in the local Republican Party. Both have served as precinct chairs, and Burt was elected to serve as a Vice-President and President of the Denton County Republican Men’s Club. Before being elected as a state representative, Rep. Solomons served as a delegate to the Denton County Republican Convention and the State of Texas Republican Convention and as Parliamentarian to Denton County Republican Convention. In the Texas House, Burt has participated in the Republican Caucus as its Sergeant-of-Arms and as Chair of the Caucus’ Task Force on Economic Development, and the Texas Conservative Coalition.
Approached by several longtime Republicans in 1994, Burt agreed to file for State Representative of District 65, and has been proud to represent his community of neighbors and friends since then. Rep. Solomons currently serves as the Chair of the House Committee on Financial Institutions, a position he has held for the past three sessions. Under his leadership of 12 years on the committee, some of the toughest consumer protection in the United States for home equity lending was passed by the committee.
Rep. Solomons was recently named as Chairman of the powerful State Affairs committee for the current legislative session. He also has served on the House Committee on Business and Industry since his first session. Through his service on this committee, Burt has gained an extensive knowledge of a variety of large and small legislative issues involving business, homeowner associations, and workers’ compensation. In addition to these committees, Rep. Solomons has served on the Sunset Advisory Commission (as Chairman), the Committee on Economic Development, the Local and Consent Calendars Committee, and the Select Committee on Constitutional Revisions.
Being true to his conservative Republican roots and his district, Rep. Solomons has carried legislation on prayer in school, illegal immigration, and allowing home rule cities to limit the location of bars, liquor stores and sexually oriented businesses. In 2005, he was named the second most conservative legislator by the Texas Young Conservatives.
In addition to these bills, Burt has authored many major changes in Texas law. He helped create the Texas Online project, created the Texas No-Call List, modernized the Texas Finance Code, re-written the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, the Business Organizations Code, and much of the mechanic’s lien law used in the State.
However, it is the local bills of which Burt is most proud. He believes these are the bills that really have direct impact on so many in his community of Denton County. He has created various district, criminal, statutory and probate courts for Denton County, the Denton County Transportation Authority, helped Texas Women’s University build a new student center and provide medical services, supported the University of North Texas in its efforts to obtain funding, preserved the Denton County Historical Park Foundation, and allowed Denton County to regulate automotive wrecking and salvage yards - just to name a few pieces of legislation.
Even after 14 years in the Texas House, Burt has not lost the “man-off-the-streets” attitude. If you meet with him in his district office he is most likely to be in jeans and a golf shirt. He frequently answers his own phone, and personally greets visitors to his Capitol Office if he is not on the House Floor working. During the busiest of times of the Session, his focus is still on his community. Every night while he is in Austin he calls home to talk to Jamie and their daughter, Haley. As one of his close friends in Lewisville once observed when Burt first was elected, “Burt is a local guy and he isn’t going to change.” His friends and neighbors in our community know he still is one of them.
