Julie Caruthers Parsley and Bryan Hebert are fronting the new Texas Conservative Roundtable, which they describe as a conservative advocacy group, backed by businesses and trade groups, to try to reach consensus on things like tax policy, infrastructure and education issues.
They won't have a political action committee, but plan to be active during election season with social media and grassroots and possibly some advertising. During legislative sessions, they'll be an advocacy group, speaking to voters and groups around the state and to the people in the Pink Building.
Parsley, an attorney and former Public Utility Commissioner, comes in as president; Hebert, an attorney most recently with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, will be executive director.
They're still organizing and won't yet name sponsors or backers. The setup resembles that of other advocacy groups around state government; they say the roundtable isn't intended to be a counter to any particular group. That said, they also are talking about issues that have been corked in recent years by officeholders' reluctance to come up with new funding for roads, the state's water plan, or other programs.