Rep. Dan Branch serves as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Dallas (Dist. 108). Elected in 2002, as a Republican, he represents downtown, uptown and near east Dallas, as well as the Town of Highland Park and the City of University Park.
Branch serves on the House Appropriations, Calendars and Public Education Committees, and since March 2007, serves as Chairman of the House Select Committee on Higher & Public Education Finance. He is the ranking Dallas County member on Appropriations, Chair of Budget and Oversight for Public Education and Vice Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. In 2007, Branch was named to Capitol Inside's “Best of the Texas Legislature” list for the 5th consecutive year and was the recipient of many public service awards, including the 2007 Dallas Morning News Legislative Leader Board, and, over the years, multiple “Champion of Free Enterprise” awards from the Texas Association of Business.
In 2006, Branch was one of the primary authors of the school finance reform, franchise tax reform and property tax reduction legislation signed into law by Governor Perry. In 2007, he was a joint author of HB 2 — the largest property tax cut in the history of Texas.
In addition to his service in the Legislature, Branch is a corporate lawyer and shareholder of Winstead PC. He is a former judicial clerk to Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack Pope and a former aide to the late U.S. Senator John Tower. Branch is a member of the bars of Texas, New York and the District of Columbia.
Beyond his professional service, Branch is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, a former president of The Dallas Assembly and a former Chairman of the Texas Public Finance Authority, appointed by Governor George W. Bush. In addition, he is the chairman of SMU's John Tower Center for Political Studies, and serves on numerous boards, including The Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C., the Boy Scouts of America/Circle Ten Council, the Southwestern Medical Foundation in Dallas. Branch also serves on the Mayor's Downtown Dallas Task Force.
A graduate of the SMU School of Law and the Institute on Comparative Political & Economic Systems at Georgetown University, he holds two undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma Christian University, graduating summa cum laude in 1980.
Dan and his wife, Stacey, reside in University Park along with their five children.