Geanie Morrison
Geanie Williams Morrison (born October 6, 1950) is a Texas state representative from Victoria. A Republican, she has represented District 30 since January 12, 1999.
Contents
- 1 Personal life
- 2 Career
- 3 Legislative career
- 4 References
Personal life
Morrison attended Victoria College. With her husband, Jack, she has two children and two grandchildren.
Career
Before serving in the House of Representatives, Morrison served as the executive director of the Governor's Commission for Women. She was appointed by then-Governor George W. Bush to the Texas Commission for Volunteerism and Community Service and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission.
Legislative career
Morrison was the first chairperson of the Environmental Regulation Committee when it was created in 2015. As part of her work on the committee, she championed a bill that weakened environmental protections in an effort to encourage employers to move to Texas or to stay in the state.
In 2018, she was elected to the 86th legislature with 74.7% of the vote, beating Robin Hayter. Morrison served on the Culture, Recreation & Tourism Committee, the Environmental Regulation Committee, the M* Violence Prevention & Community Safety Committee, and chaired the Local & Consent Calendars Committee. She represented parts of Aransas, Calhoun, De Witt, Goliad, Refugio, and Victoria counties.
Morrison had a primary challenger but was unopposed in the 2020 general election. She briefly was in the running to become Speaker of the House for the 87th legislature, but withdrew after only a week, throwing her support to Dade Phelan. Later, she put her name back into contention for the speakership. Her office was involved in removing a statue of a confederate soldier in 2020.
In 1999, Morrison introduced legislation creating the Safe-haven law. This law decriminalizes the leaving of unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that the child becomes a ward of the state in order to eliminate child abandonment. Morrison's legislation became a blueprint and by 2008 similar laws were adopted across the country.