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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Timothy Alan "Tim" Kleinschmidt |image=Tim Kleinschmidt of TX.jpg ||nationality=American |office=Texas State Representative..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Timothy Alan "Tim" Kleinschmidt
|image=Tim Kleinschmidt of TX.jpg
||nationality=[[United States|American]]
|office=[[Texas]] State Representative for District 17 (Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes, and Lee counties)]
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|term_start=January 2009
|term_end=January 2015
|preceded=Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III
|succeeded=John Cyrier
|birth_date=November 15, 1956
|birth_place=Giddings, Lee County, Texas
|residence=Lexington, Lee County
|occupation=[[Attorney]] and Rancher
|spouse=Anna Kleinschmidt
|children=Three children
|religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
|alma_mater=Lexington (Texas) High School<br>
[[Texas A&M University]]<br>
[[Baylor University|Baylor Law School]]
}}
'''Timothy Alan Kleinschmidt''', known as '''Tim Kleinschmidt''' (born November 15, 1956),<ref name=votesmart>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.UwwS8MuPIfg|title=Tim Kleinschmidt's Biography|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref> is an [[attorney]] in Giddings, [[Texas]], who currently serves as the general counsel for the Texas Department of Agriculture under commissioner [[Sid Miller]]. From 2009 to 2015 he was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 17, which comprises his native Lee County as well as Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, and Karnes counties in the central portion of the state.<ref name=timbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/?district=17|title=Rep. Kleinschmidt, Tim (District 17)|publisher=house.state.tx.us|accessdate=February 25, 2014}}</ref>
==Background==
The son of two educators, Kleinschmidt graduated in 1975 as [[valedictorian]] of Lexington High School in Lexington in Lee County. The school gymnasium there is named for his father, A. P. Kleinschmidt, a long-term superintendent of the Lexington Independent School District. In 1978, he procured a Bachelor of Science degree from [[Texas A&M University]]. In 1981, he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate from [[Baylor University|Baylor Law School]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]]. He opened his law practice in his native Giddings in 1981 and became city attorney there and also in Lexington, and Round Top in Fayette County, which was previously in House District 17. In addition to municipal law, his areas of expertise include [[real estate]], [[oil]] and [[natural gas]], creation of business entities, probates, estates, wills, and commercial litigation.<ref name=timbio/>
In addition to his law practice, Kleinschmidt has interests in ranching and hunting. He is a member of the [[Farm Bureau]], the Texas Wildlife Association, the [[National Rifle Association]], and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, based in [[Fort Worth]]. He is affiliated with the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church of Lexington.<ref name=votesmart.<<ref name=timbio/>
He and his wife, Anna, have three grown children.<ref name=votesmart/>
==Political life==
When the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Representative Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III, of Eagle Lake in Colorado County, then located in District 17, declined to seek a seventh term in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=166&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=Robby~gender=~last=Cook~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Robert "Robby" Cook|publisher=Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=September 21, 2000}}</ref> Unopposed for his Republican nomination, Kleinschmidt then won the general election, 32,238 votes (54 percent) to the Democrat Donnie Dippel's 25,583 votes (42.9 percent).<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General Election Returns, November 4, 2008.</ref>
Representative Kleinschmidt is a member of the House committees on (1) Agriculture and Livestock and (2) Homeland Defense and Public Safety. He is the chairman of the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee.<ref name=timbio/>
In the 2013 legislative session, Kleinschmidt supported a ban on [[abortion]] after twenty weeks of [[gestation]]; the bill passed the House, 96-49. He voted for companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers. Still, exas [[Right to Life]] rated him 64 percent in 2013 and 60 percent in 2011.<ref name=ratings/>
Kleinschmidt voted against a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools; the measure passed the House, 73-58. He co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security. He opposed the bill requiring the immunization of minors without parental consent, a measure which the House nevertheless approved, 71-61. He co-sponsored the law to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Kleinschmidt voted against the measure to prohibit texting while driving, but he had voted for such a ban in 2011. He voted to require testing for [[narcotics]] of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted against an "equal pay for women" measure, which passed the House, 78-61. He voted to forbid the state from enforcing federal regulations of firearms and co-sponsored another law allowing college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. He voted for the [[redistricting]] bills for the state House, thestate Senate, and the [[United States House of Representatives]]. He opposed term limits for certain state officials. In 2011, Kleinschmidt voted to cut spending on state agencies. That same year, he opposed a ban on [[smoking]] in public places.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.UwwVlsuPIfg|title=Tim Keinschmidt's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>
In 2013, [[Phyllis Schlafly]]'s [[Eagle Forum]], then managed in Texas by [[Cathie Adams]], a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Kleinschmidt 85 percent favorable. The Young Conservatives of Texas rated him a cumulative career score of 74 percent. He ranked 66 percent from the Texas League of Conservation Voters and 33 percent from the [[Sierra Club]]. The [[interest group]], Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated him 66 percent in 2013 and 50 percent in 2011. Both the Texas Association of Business and the National Rifle Association rated him 100 percent.<ref name=ratings>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.Uwy0hMuPIfg|title=Tim Kleinschmidt's Ratings and Endorsements|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>
In April 2013, Kleinschmidt suspended his legislative chief of staff, John Higgins, Jr., after Higgins was [[Indictment|indicted]] on twelve [[felony]] charges stemming from allegedly falsifying travel reimbursements. Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney of Travis County in [[Austin]], said that Higgins was released from custody after he posted a $10,000 bond. He was charged by a Travis County [[grand jury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/12/top-texas-house-aide-indicted-lawyer/|title=Jay Root, "Legislator Suspends Aide Who is Facing Charges"|date=April 12, 2013|publisher=''The Texas Tribune''|accessdate=February 25, 2014}}</ref>
Kleinschmidt defeated Democrat Carolyn Banks for re-election in 2014, but he resigned two months later in January 2015 to serve as general counsel in the Department of Agriculture.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2014/11/kleinschmidt-to-resign-for-job-at-agriculture-department/ |author=Patrick Svitek |title=Kleinschmidt to resign for job at agriculture department |
|publisher=''The Houston Chronicle''|date=November 22, 2014|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref> He was replaced in the House by fellow Republican John Cyrier in a [[special election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lexingtonleader.com/news/2015-02-19/Front_Page/Cyrier_Elected_State_Representative_for_District_1.html|title=Cyrier Elected State Representative for District 17
|publisher=''The Lexington (Texas) Leader''|date=February 19, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleinschmidt, Tim}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]
|name=Timothy Alan "Tim" Kleinschmidt
|image=Tim Kleinschmidt of TX.jpg
||nationality=[[United States|American]]
|office=[[Texas]] State Representative for District 17 (Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes, and Lee counties)]
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|term_start=January 2009
|term_end=January 2015
|preceded=Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III
|succeeded=John Cyrier
|birth_date=November 15, 1956
|birth_place=Giddings, Lee County, Texas
|residence=Lexington, Lee County
|occupation=[[Attorney]] and Rancher
|spouse=Anna Kleinschmidt
|children=Three children
|religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
|alma_mater=Lexington (Texas) High School<br>
[[Texas A&M University]]<br>
[[Baylor University|Baylor Law School]]
}}
'''Timothy Alan Kleinschmidt''', known as '''Tim Kleinschmidt''' (born November 15, 1956),<ref name=votesmart>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.UwwS8MuPIfg|title=Tim Kleinschmidt's Biography|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref> is an [[attorney]] in Giddings, [[Texas]], who currently serves as the general counsel for the Texas Department of Agriculture under commissioner [[Sid Miller]]. From 2009 to 2015 he was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 17, which comprises his native Lee County as well as Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, and Karnes counties in the central portion of the state.<ref name=timbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/?district=17|title=Rep. Kleinschmidt, Tim (District 17)|publisher=house.state.tx.us|accessdate=February 25, 2014}}</ref>
==Background==
The son of two educators, Kleinschmidt graduated in 1975 as [[valedictorian]] of Lexington High School in Lexington in Lee County. The school gymnasium there is named for his father, A. P. Kleinschmidt, a long-term superintendent of the Lexington Independent School District. In 1978, he procured a Bachelor of Science degree from [[Texas A&M University]]. In 1981, he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate from [[Baylor University|Baylor Law School]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]]. He opened his law practice in his native Giddings in 1981 and became city attorney there and also in Lexington, and Round Top in Fayette County, which was previously in House District 17. In addition to municipal law, his areas of expertise include [[real estate]], [[oil]] and [[natural gas]], creation of business entities, probates, estates, wills, and commercial litigation.<ref name=timbio/>
In addition to his law practice, Kleinschmidt has interests in ranching and hunting. He is a member of the [[Farm Bureau]], the Texas Wildlife Association, the [[National Rifle Association]], and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, based in [[Fort Worth]]. He is affiliated with the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church of Lexington.<ref name=votesmart.<<ref name=timbio/>
He and his wife, Anna, have three grown children.<ref name=votesmart/>
==Political life==
When the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Representative Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III, of Eagle Lake in Colorado County, then located in District 17, declined to seek a seventh term in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=166&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=Robby~gender=~last=Cook~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Robert "Robby" Cook|publisher=Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=September 21, 2000}}</ref> Unopposed for his Republican nomination, Kleinschmidt then won the general election, 32,238 votes (54 percent) to the Democrat Donnie Dippel's 25,583 votes (42.9 percent).<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General Election Returns, November 4, 2008.</ref>
Representative Kleinschmidt is a member of the House committees on (1) Agriculture and Livestock and (2) Homeland Defense and Public Safety. He is the chairman of the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee.<ref name=timbio/>
In the 2013 legislative session, Kleinschmidt supported a ban on [[abortion]] after twenty weeks of [[gestation]]; the bill passed the House, 96-49. He voted for companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers. Still, exas [[Right to Life]] rated him 64 percent in 2013 and 60 percent in 2011.<ref name=ratings/>
Kleinschmidt voted against a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools; the measure passed the House, 73-58. He co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security. He opposed the bill requiring the immunization of minors without parental consent, a measure which the House nevertheless approved, 71-61. He co-sponsored the law to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Kleinschmidt voted against the measure to prohibit texting while driving, but he had voted for such a ban in 2011. He voted to require testing for [[narcotics]] of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted against an "equal pay for women" measure, which passed the House, 78-61. He voted to forbid the state from enforcing federal regulations of firearms and co-sponsored another law allowing college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. He voted for the [[redistricting]] bills for the state House, thestate Senate, and the [[United States House of Representatives]]. He opposed term limits for certain state officials. In 2011, Kleinschmidt voted to cut spending on state agencies. That same year, he opposed a ban on [[smoking]] in public places.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.UwwVlsuPIfg|title=Tim Keinschmidt's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>
In 2013, [[Phyllis Schlafly]]'s [[Eagle Forum]], then managed in Texas by [[Cathie Adams]], a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Kleinschmidt 85 percent favorable. The Young Conservatives of Texas rated him a cumulative career score of 74 percent. He ranked 66 percent from the Texas League of Conservation Voters and 33 percent from the [[Sierra Club]]. The [[interest group]], Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated him 66 percent in 2013 and 50 percent in 2011. Both the Texas Association of Business and the National Rifle Association rated him 100 percent.<ref name=ratings>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.Uwy0hMuPIfg|title=Tim Kleinschmidt's Ratings and Endorsements|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>
In April 2013, Kleinschmidt suspended his legislative chief of staff, John Higgins, Jr., after Higgins was [[Indictment|indicted]] on twelve [[felony]] charges stemming from allegedly falsifying travel reimbursements. Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney of Travis County in [[Austin]], said that Higgins was released from custody after he posted a $10,000 bond. He was charged by a Travis County [[grand jury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/12/top-texas-house-aide-indicted-lawyer/|title=Jay Root, "Legislator Suspends Aide Who is Facing Charges"|date=April 12, 2013|publisher=''The Texas Tribune''|accessdate=February 25, 2014}}</ref>
Kleinschmidt defeated Democrat Carolyn Banks for re-election in 2014, but he resigned two months later in January 2015 to serve as general counsel in the Department of Agriculture.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2014/11/kleinschmidt-to-resign-for-job-at-agriculture-department/ |author=Patrick Svitek |title=Kleinschmidt to resign for job at agriculture department |
|publisher=''The Houston Chronicle''|date=November 22, 2014|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref> He was replaced in the House by fellow Republican John Cyrier in a [[special election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lexingtonleader.com/news/2015-02-19/Front_Page/Cyrier_Elected_State_Representative_for_District_1.html|title=Cyrier Elected State Representative for District 17
|publisher=''The Lexington (Texas) Leader''|date=February 19, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleinschmidt, Tim}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]