Elizabeth Ames Jones
About Commissioner Jones
Elizabeth Ames Jones is the 44th member of the Texas Railroad Commission, the three member commission responsible for overseeing Texas energy industry. First appointed in 2005 and elected to a full six-year term in 2006, she has quickly earned a reputation as a strong conservative who shapes policy based upon the principles of limited government, fiscal restraint, local control and personal responsibility. She is spearheading efforts to foster greater energy security by promoting policies that lessen dependence on foreign oil while working to conserve and responsibly develop Texas' energy resources.
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| 1961. Elizabeth and two of her three brothers. |
A sixth-generation Texan, Elizabeth Ames Jones was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 2000, defeating a four-term incumbent to represent a growing suburban district in San Antonio. She was overwhelmingly re-elected twice more before her appointment by the Governor to a vacancy on the Texas Railroad Commission in 2005. She was elected to a full term on the Railroad Commission in November 2006.
Commissioner Jones is only the second woman to win election to a full term on the Railroad Commission in its 116-year history.
The Railroad Commission oversees many facets of Texas energy, from regulation of the oil and gas industry to the permitting and reclamation of coal and uranium mines. It originally oversaw railroads, but over the years it has given up those duties completely. The Commission’s mission now is to serve Texas by protecting personal safety, by encouraging sound stewardship of our natural resources and the environment, and by supporting responsible development of those resources for the long-term economic vitality of all Texans.
Commissioner Jones is a rock-solid conservative. While a member of the Appropriations Committee in the Texas House, she worked to craft a budget that cut actual state spending for the first time since World War II and overcome a $10 billion revenue shortfall without raising taxes. She is a strong defender of homeowners’ and private property rights and was instrumental in crafting property appraisal reform legislation.
Commissioner Jones worked to lower homeowners’ insurance premiums, and in order to ensure meaningful medical liability reform, she actively traveled the state to promote passage of reform. Designated a “Fighter for Free Enterprise” during both full terms she served, she has also been recognized for her outstanding contributions to law enforcement.
During her second term in the Texas House, she became the first woman elected to a leadership position in the House Republican Caucus when her colleagues elected her Vice Chairman of the Caucus. She served in that position until she accepted the Governor’s appointment to the Railroad Commission. She served as Chairman of the Railroad Commission from September 2005 to July 2007.
Currently, Commissioner Jones is a member of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. She serves on the Coastal Coordination Council (CCC), which implements the Federal Coastal Management Program (CMP) funding for coastal communities, and the Coastal Land Advisory Committee (CLAB).
Elizabeth is committed to firm but fair leadership of an agency that is important in so many different ways to our state, and she is dedicated to making her stewardship of our energy resources something all Texans can be proud of.
Elizabeth and Will, her husband of 25 years, are both graduates of the University of Texas at Austin and are the proud parents of two grown children.
