DALLAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott named J. Bruce Bugg Jr. of San Antonio and Tyron Dexter Lewis of Odessa to the Texas Transportation Commission.
If confirmed by the Texas Senate, the two will serve six-year terms ending Feb. 1, 2021.
The appointments were Abbott's first to the powerful TTC after Gov. Rick Perry's record 14 years in office. Perry, whose term ended in January, made more appointments to state boards and agencies than any governor in Texas history.
The commission governs the Texas Department of Transportation and is the largest issuer of debt in the state.
"Bruce Bugg and Tryon Lewis will be effective voices for accelerating economic expansion, growing jobs and improving infrastructure without raising taxes, fees or tolls," Abbott said in a written statement. "I look forward to working with them in providing permanent solutions to our state's transportation challenges."
Bugg is chairman and chief executive of Argyle Investment Co., LLC, a private investment firm. He also serves as chairman and chief executive of Southwest Bancshares, Inc., as well as president of Texas Hill Country Bancshares, Inc. and as chairman of The Bank of San Antonio.
Bugg founded Southwest Bankers in 1984 as a bank holding company to acquire the original Bank of San Antonio, where he was chief executive.
Bugg then served as vice chairman of First Southwest Company and chairman of the Investment Banking Group of First Southwest Company in Dallas until he formed Argyle Investment Co., LLC in 1997.
From 1998 until September 2006, Bugg served on the Board of Directors of Consolidated Water Co. on the Audit, Nominating and Strategic Planning Committees.
Bugg currently chairs the Tobin Endowment, a private charitable foundation in San Antonio and a number of other organizations. He is former chairman of Cancer Therapy & Research Center.
Lewis has served as a state representative since 2008 and was an attorney specializing in civil litigation in Odessa before that. He was previously a state district judge. Lewis is currently a partner at the law firm Atkins, Hollman Jones, Peacock, Lewis & Lyon.
Lewis wrote an opinion piece in the Sept. 14 Odessa American opposing Proposition 1, a constitutional amendment that redirected oil and gas revenue from the state's rainy day fund to Texas transportation projects. The measure passed easily Nov. 4.
"The proposition violates the 'users pay' principle of financing our highways," Lewis wrote, citing the state and federal gasoline taxes as the proper source of transportation funding. "That finance system is fair, dependable and adequate to build and maintain highways."
TxDOT says the tax revenue is insufficient to keep pace with Texas's growing transportation needs. State and federal lawmakers have not raised the fuel tax in nearly a quarter century.
General obligation bonds issued by the TTC are rated triple-A.
