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Former Member, 10th Amendment Task Force
Former Member, Congressional Pro-Life Caucus
Former Member, Ethics Committee, United States House of Representatives
Former Chair, House Committee on Banking and Investments, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Chair, House Republican Caucus, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Immigration Reform Caucus
Former Member, Oversight Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Oversight Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Republican Study Committee
Former Member, Subcommittee on Health (Ways and Means), United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Subcommittee on Trade, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Subcommittee on Trade, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Tea Party Caucus
Former Member, Ways and Means Committee, United States House of Representatives
Member, Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, present
Member, Immigration Reform Caucus, present
Member, 10th Amendment Task Force
Former Chair, House Committee on Banking and Investments, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Chair, House Republican Caucus, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Oversight Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Former Member, Oversight Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives
Member, Republican Study Committee
Former Member, Subcommittee on Trade, United States House of Representatives
Member, Tea Party Caucus
Ranking Member, Ethics
Member, Subcommittee on Health (Ways and Means)
Member, Subcommittee on Trade
Member, Ways and Means
Astrological Sign:
Pisces
— Awards:
Champion of National Security, Center for Security Policy
Legislator of the Year, Texas Municipal League
Top Ten Legislator, Texas Monthly
Guardian of Small Business Award, National Federation of Independent Business
Honorary Doctorate Degree, Southern Nazarene University
Hero of the Taxpayer, Citizens Against Government Waste
Defender of Economic Freedom, Club for Growth
— Father's Occupation:
— Mother's Occupation:
— Number of Grandchildren:
1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-life
1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- No
2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- No
Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No
2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes
Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No
1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes
2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- No
Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- No
Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- Yes
1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- Yes
2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- Yes
Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- No
1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- Yes
2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Yes
1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer
2. Abortions should always be legally available.
- No Answer
3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
- No Answer
4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- No Answer
5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X
6. Eliminate public funding for abortions and public funding of organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
- X
7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Education (Higher)
- Slightly Increase Funding
2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase Funding
3. Environment
- Slightly Increase Funding
4. Health care
- Slightly Increase Funding
5. Law enforcement
- Slightly Increase Funding
6. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Slightly Increase Funding
7. Welfare
- Slightly Increase Funding
8. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
9. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status
10. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status
11. Corporate taxes
- Eliminate
12. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status
13. Inheritance taxes
- Eliminate
14. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status
15. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status
16. Should Internet sales be taxed?
- Undecided
17. Do you support placing any operating surplus into the rainy day fund?
- Yes
18. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas governors?
- Yes
2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas state senators and representatives?___ Yes ___ No ___ Undecided
- No
3. Individual
- No
4. PAC
- Undecided
5. Corporate
- Yes
6. Political Parties
- No
7. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes
8. Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns?
- No
9. Do you support partial funding from state taxes for state level political campaigns?
- No
10. Do you support voting on-line?
- No
11. Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying, and ensuring accuracy of votes?
- Yes
12. Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Texas are closed?
- Yes
13. Should Texas recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- No
14. Should Texas restrict marriage to a union only between a man and a woman?
- Yes
15. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and for hiring of additional prison staff.
- X
2. Support contracting with private sector firms to build and/or manage state prisons.
- No Answer
3. Support the use of the death penalty in Texas.
- X
4. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X
5. End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- X
6. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- No Answer
7. Decriminalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
- No Answer
8. Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- X
9. Support the lower .08 blood-alcohol-content limit defining drunk driving.
- X
10. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- X
11. Require that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, or disability be prosecuted as hate crimes.
- No Answer
12. Ban the use of racial profiling by law enforcement officers.
- X
13. Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
- X
14. Create statewide standards for defense counsel in capital murder cases.
- X
15. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- X
2. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any participating school (public, private, religious).
- X
3. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- X
4. Increase state funds for hiring additional teachers.
- No Answer
5. Support teacher testing and reward teachers with merit pay.
- X
6. Support displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools.
- X
7. Endorse teacher-led voluntary prayer in public schools.
- X
8. Require public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- X
9. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X
10. Increase state funding to expand Head Start in order to serve additional children and/or increase services from a half to a full day.
- No Answer
11. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- No Answer
12. Support age-appropriate sexual education programs that teach about abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
- No Answer
13. Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
- X
14. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Implement a State income tax.
- No Answer
2. Implement a Statewide property tax.
- No Answer
3. Support the current system, which seeks to equalize funding by redistributing funding from wealthier districts to poorer ones.
- No Answer
4. Other or expanded principles
- X
1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market.
- No Answer
2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector to encourage investment and economic expansion.
- X
3. Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
- No Answer
4. Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for their employees.
- No Answer
5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children of low-income working families.
- No Answer
6. Include sexual orientation in Texas anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
8. College and university admissions
- No
9. Public employment
- No
10. State contracting
- No
1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X
2. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- X
3. Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
- Yes
4. Should state environmental regulations be stricter than federal law?
- No
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Ban the sale or transfer of semi-automatic guns, except those used for hunting.
- No Answer
2. Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- X
3. Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer
4. Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer
5. Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
- X
6. Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks on guns.
- X
7. Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
- No Answer
8. Require a license for gun possession.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state funded care where necessary.
- X
2. Transfer more existing Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
- No Answer
3. Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- X
4. Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
- X
5. Support patients' right to appeal to an administrative board of specialists when services are denied.
- X
6. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- X
7. Legalize physician-assisted suicide in Texas.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support current time limits on welfare benefits.
- X
2. Increase employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
- X
3. Provide tax incentives to businesses that hire welfare recipients.
- X
4. Provide child care for welfare recipients who work.
- X
5. Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
- X
6. Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
- No Answer
7. Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
- X
8. Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to expand state services to include the working poor.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
In a total of seventy-five (75) words or less, please explain what your two main legislative priorities will be if elected. Please explain how you would obtain any additional government funding needed to implement these priorities.
- No Answer
Latest Action: House - 06/04/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Tracker:Latest Action: House - 06/04/2019 Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Tracker:Latest Action: House - 05/23/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Tracker:By Rep. Kenny Marchant "America first does not mean America alone." Those were the words from President Donald Trump during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month. On the campaign trail and throughout his first year in office, President Trump repeatedly said the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a "bad deal" for the United States. As America's largest exporter, Texas knows that NAFTA -- America's most valuable free trade agreement -- is not a bad deal, it is simply an outdated deal. Undoing it would jeopardize nearly one million Texas jobs and the loss of billions of dollars in economic production. Congress recently passed the most comprehensive update of America's tax code since the Reagan Administration. The tax rules of 1986 were inadequate for American companies competing in a 2018 economy. We fell behind other industrialized nations that reformed their tax codes to attract business, investment and most importantly, jobs. It's the same with America's trade policy. The policies negotiated for NAFTA a quarter-century ago are inadequate for a 21st century economy. The United States economy is on the rise. We've had three consecutive quarters of at least three percent GDP growth, which hasn't happened since 2014, coupled with the highest consumer confidence and lowest unemployment in 17 years. Now is the time to keep the pedal down on the American economy, not to slam on the brakes. Constant threatening to pull out of NAFTA causes uncertainty for job creators -- uncertainty that limits their willingness to invest in their workforce, expand their operations and contribute to a growing economy. Effective trade policies create a two-way street benefiting Texans on a daily basis. The lower prices of everyday goods allow the budgets of American families to go farther. In return, our local industries and their desirable "made in America" products have a larger customer base to sell their products. Texas has a long history of successful trade relationships because of its immense resources. Industries in Texas exported over $111 billion to Canada and Mexico in 2016. At nearly $20 billion, we are the second-largest exporting state to Canada, behind only Michigan. Mexico is our largest trade partner, with 40 percent of Texas exports going to our southern neighbor. In the North Texas communities I represent, $37 billion of economic activity comes from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport; its freight operations are a significant component of import-export transactions. The North American market is vital for job creation and a healthy, diverse Texas economy. Medium and small businesses are able to be large sellers to consumers in other countries. Over 39,000 exporters in Texas are in that small or medium-sized category. Our state is also home to 63 Fortune 500 companies that provide livelihoods to hundreds of thousands of Texans. A strengthened, modernized agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States is crucial to those companies expanding, creating new jobs and providing careers for future generations of Texans. After the most recent round of NAFTA negotiations in Montreal, the House Ways and Means Committee met again with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. As part of my position on the committee and member of its Trade Subcommittee, I continue to communicate how important and beneficial our trade partnerships are for my constituents and how harmful unpredictability is for employees and employers throughout Texas. The seventh round of trilateral negotiations is underway in Mexico City. In order to avoid the job-killing result of ending NAFTA, we need to do away with the uncertainty and solidify this North American partnership. Elected officials in Texas at every level continue to implore the Trump Administration to improve on the successes of the agreement and modernize it where necessary. In this global economy, America first does not mean America alone.
By Kenny Marchant In the days and weeks after the president signed historic tax reform into law, more than 100 businesses around the country -- including right here in North Texas -- are putting more money in the pockets of their employees. Companies such as Dallas-based AT&T, Southwest Airlines and Texas Capital Bank and Fort Worth-based American Airlines are giving bonuses to their workforces, increasing investment in their operations and donating millions of dollars to charities because of tax reform. My goals throughout this process were to push for bold reforms that expand economic opportunities and cut taxes for the people I represent. We need policies in place that encourage businesses in our community to grow and invest in their employees. The final result reflected these goals. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reforms a broken tax code, provides tax relief to every income level in its first year, and rejects the unfair, outdated status quo. A unified Republican government kept its promise and delivered a meaningful Christmas present to American families, individuals and job creators. Modernizing our corporate tax system is vital to areas like the North Texas region. Tens of thousands of North Texans are employed by the 22 corporations on the Fortune 500 list that call the Dallas-Fort Worth area home. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act stops punishing corporations for locating their headquarters in the U.S. vs. a country with a lower tax rate. These are reforms created to incentivize American companies' investing and creating jobs in the U.S. instead of overseas, boosting the paychecks of American workers, and leveling the playing field for Dallas-Fort Worth companies competing in a global marketplace. Bringing our tax code into the 21st century is a crucial step to unleashing America's economic potential. Much-needed reforms were coupled with common-sense provisions I fought hard to protect and enhance, like the tax exemption for private activity bonds and the low-income housing tax credit. The result is a tax code that encourages businesses throughout Texas to continue investing in community development, local infrastructure projects and expansion plans here at home. Main Street entrepreneurs living out the American dream finally have a tax code that works with them -- not against them. The men and women relying on their storefronts to support their families will save time and money and keep more of their hard-earned profits so they can grow their business, hire more people, and leave a legacy. This is pro-family, pro-growth legislation that works with people as they progress through life. From students in graduate school and first-time homebuyers, to mature families and those saving for college and retirement, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act prioritizes common situations facing American families. We closed the lobbyist-created loopholes benefiting a select few and nearly doubled the standard deduction for every taxpayer. For instance, newlyweds in North Texas will pay zero taxes on their first $24,000. With an expanded child tax credit, from $1,000 to $2,000, that couple now keeps more of their paycheck to help them raise their children. Strengthening the child and dependent care tax credit and expanding the medical expense deduction add to the family-focused benefits. As a former homebuilder in North Texas, I know that homeownership is a critical part of the American dream. The mortgage interest deduction for existing mortgages is unchanged. For future homeowners, the mortgage interest deduction is available up to $750,000 -- more than three times the average home value in North Texas. We know how important the property tax deduction is to a family's tax liability in Texas. This deduction was removed entirely in early drafts, but I continued to work to preserve the full deduction. Moving forward, state and local taxes are now deductible up to $10,000. From the beginning of this process, my goals were to provide long-overdue relief for hardworking taxpayers and increase competitiveness for American companies to jump-start a stagnant economy. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act accomplishes these goals.
