Cindy Gay Burkett, also known as Cindy G. Burkett (born November 12, 1958) is a businesswoman from Sunnyvale, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives. Since 2013, she has represented District 113 which is on the eastern edge of Dallas County. In her first term from 2011 to 2013, she represented a since reconfigured District 101, based about her native Mesquite, also in Dallas County.
Video Cindy Burkett
Background
Burkett received an Associate of Arts degree in business from Eastfield College, a community college in Mesquite. In 2004, at the age of forty-five, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2005, she completed the Alternative Dispute Resolution program at the University of North Texas in Denton. She is the president and co-owner of Highline Enterprises, a company that owns and operates several Subway sandwich shops.
Burkett married her high school sweetheart, Michael Andrew "Mike" Burkett (born c. 1954), a veteran of the United States Air Force. The couple have three children, Carissa Renee Burkett, Brandon Dallas Burkett, and Jacob Daniel Burkett, and three grandchildren. She is an active member of Mimosa Lane Baptist Church in Mesquite.
Maps Cindy Burkett
Political life
Burkett is a former member of the Mesquite Board of Adjustments and has been active in anti-littering campaigns there. As a legislator, she worked to acquire the new municipal court building in Mesquite.
Prior to running for the state House, Burkett was a legislative aide and then deputy regional director for District 2 Republican State Senator Bob Deuell.
In the 2010 Republican primary, Burkett won her party's nomination with 3,540 votes (50.4 percent) over two opponents, attorney Gregory Carr "Greg" Noschese (born c. 1970) of Mesquite and formerly of Shreveport, Louisiana, and former Representative Thomas R. Latham (born c. 1933) of Mesquite, who held the seat from 2007 to 2009. Noschese and Latham polled 33.2 and 16.4 percent of the vote, respectively. In the November 2, 2010 general election in District 101, Burkett narrowly unseated the Democratic incumbent representative, attorney Robert James Miklos (born c. 1965) of Mesquite, 13,266 (51.8 percent) to 12,338 (48.2 percent).
In 2012, Representative Joe Driver of Garland was placed with Burkett in District 113, but facing ethics violations he did not run again, and Burkett was nominated without opposition. In the general election in District 113 held on November 6, 2012, she faced no Democratic opponent but defeated a Green Party nominee, Angela Kennette Sarlay (born c. 1972) of Rowlett, 28,727 votes (80.9 percent) to 6,763 (19.1 percent).
Burkett serves on these House committees: (1) Investments & Financial Services, (2) Transportation and (3) Local and Consent Calendars.
She is the vice chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus. Speaker Joe Straus named her to the Energy Council, which seeks to develop national energy policies in the southwestern states. Burkett is a member of the National Conference of State Legislators and serves on the Network Advisory Council of the Women's Legislative Network.
During the 85th Legislature, Burkett voted for a house budget that would have underfunded public schools by punting one of 24 required monthly checks to schools onto the next legislature. Burkett also claims to have "reduced spending by over 200 million", but Texas' 2016-2017 budget appropriates 209.4 billion and this years budget is $217 billion, indicating that spending went up by eight billion, not down.
Legislative voting records
Life
In 2011, Burkett supported two other anti-abortion measures. One forbids state funding of agencies which perform abortions. The other requires that a woman undergo a sonogram before procuring an abortion. This 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 through the latest technology. According to Project Vote Smart, the Texas Right to Life Committee rated Burkett 87 percent favorable in 2013 and 71 percent in 2011.Burkett in 2013 supported the ban on abortion after five months of gestation; the measure passed the House, 96-49. She co-sponsored companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers, a move which opponents said could lead to the closure of many abortion clinics in the state. These issues brought forth an unsuccessful filibuster in the state Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who in 2014 is the Democratic nominee for governor against the Republican Greg Abbott. However, in 2015, Burkett caused intraparty controversy amongst pro-life conservatives by voting in favor of aborting children with disabilities in the third trimester when she voted against Amendment 22 of Senate Bill 8.
The Second Amendment
Burkett co-sponsored the bill to prohibit the state government from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms. She sponsored the measure to allow college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in buildings and vehicles in the name of campus security. She co-sponsored the bill to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit. She backed the redistricting bills for the state House and Senate and the United States House of Representatives. She voted against term limits for certain state officials.
Other
Burkett co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity. She also co-sponsored the successful bill to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Burkett voted for the adoption of the biennial state budgets in both 2013 and 2011. She voted to require testing for narcotics of those individuals receiving unemployment compensation. She voted against the "equal pay for women" law, which passed the House, 78-61, but was vetoed by Governor Rick Perry.
In 2011, Burkett voted against legislation to outlaw texting while driving, but she reversed herself and supported the ban in 2013. She voted in 2011 to reduce funding for state agencies. She voted to levy a sales tax on Internet transactions to match existing laws for brick and mortar stores' the measure passed the House 125-20. Burkett voted against the prohibition of smoking in public places. She voted to establish eligibility for indigent health care. She voted for corporal punishment in public schools; the bill passed the House, 80-64. To guarantee the integrity of the election process, she 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. In 2013, Burkett sponsored related legislation to forbid a voter from turning in multiple ballots.
In 2017, Burkett voted "Yea" during RV #164 of SB1, killing three amendments that would have expanded tax reform to all Texans
Interest group ratings
Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party rated Burkett 80 percent favorable in 2013 and 88 percent in 2011. The Young Conservatives of Texas gave her a cumulative score in 2013 of 74 percent. The Texas Association of Business, which awarded her a cumulative score of 92 percent, named her a "Champion for Free Enterprise". The Texas League of Conservation Voters rated her 64 percent in 2013; the Sierra Club, 33 percent in 2011. The National Rifle Association scored Burkett 92 percent in 2012 and letter-grade "A" in her previous term. The interest group Empower Texans, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan has given her a rating of 75% in 2011, 65% in 2013, 61% in 2015, and 48% in 2017.
Burkett won reelection in the November 8, 2016, general election with 30,501 votes (55.2 percent) to the Democrat Rhetta Andrews Bowers' 24,795 (44.8 percent).
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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