January 7, 2022      9:45 AM

Longtime lobbyist Dee Simpson passed away

Simpson spent decades lobbying the Legislature on a wide variety of issues, including public workers, civil rights, worker's rights, sustainable technology, toxic contamination, voting rights, municipal and other local government initiatives. Services are pending

Jeff Crosby wrote the following on social media:

Dee Simpson was “boisterous, bedeviling, big-hearted, brave and never, ever boring. He had a strange intuition about people and politics that never made sense yet was usually perfectly accurate. At the peak of his career, he played with the big boys of Texas politics and, among many other accomplishments, secured significant support for Ann Richards by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in 1990. Fueled by nicotine, caffeine, scotch, the Stones and Doug Sahm at volume 12, ADD meds, and "one of those double x green beers with a shot of your cheapest tequila," crazy lines constantly spilled out of his head much like his drinks on a bar table. Molly Ivins made sure that a few got printed, including his famous name for the Texas Legislature, "The National Laboratory For Bad Legislation." None of this is news to anyone who ever knew him. However, a lot of folks didn't know he was an enormous ally for those who were down on their luck or shoved into a corner. When the going got serious, Dee was a pro. To lean on an old cliche, Dee was a one-of-a-kind; we couldn't have handled two. I will be among the legions of people who will miss him terribly and remember him forever.”

Copyright January 07, 2022, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved