[ Report Home | Previous Page | Next Page ] Mortgaged House VI. Acknowledgements

This report would not have been possible without the assistance of many individuals and several groups. Texans for Public Justice, Public Citizen’s Texas Office and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund recognized the need for this report and are co-releasing it. The Margaret C. Wray Charitable Trust generously provided substantial funding for this study.

Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) Director Craig McDonald is an architect of this study. Public Citizen’s Texas Office Director Tom “Smitty” Smith, U.S. PIRG Democracy Campaign Director Derek Cressman and TPJ’s Fred Richardson made valuable critiques of early drafts of this report. AimJe Daigle, Bill Medaille and Ethan Preston did most of the fact checking. Members of the research squadron that camped out at the Texas Ethics Commission for a week include: Guadalupe Becerra and Ericka-Rachelle Mendoza of PIRG; Kyla Hobbs of Public Citizen’s Texas Office; and freelance researchers Estevan GarcRa, Robert Singleton, Julia Bower and Chris Phillips.

The authors wish to thank the staff of the Texas Ethics Commission disclosure room, who handled the many demands imposed by this research project with aplomb. State employees who were especially helpful include: Marta Rodríguez, Lisa Noblin, Terrence Williams, LaVerne Grant and Janet Traxler.