Speaker Biographies-Oct 27th
Billy C. Hamilton, Chief Deputy Comptroller of Public Accounts of Texas
Billy Hamilton is the Chief Deputy Comptroller of Public Accounts of Texas. He was appointed to that position in January 1999 by Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Hamilton previously served as Deputy Comptroller for seven years from 1991 to February 1998. In the interim, he was in private practice. As Deputy Comptroller, Hamilton is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Comptroller’s office. The Comptroller is the state’s chief fiscal officer and is responsible for state tax administration, statewide financial management, and state treasury operations. The Comptroller employs a staff of 2,800 in Austin and more than 40 field offices around the state and in three other states.Hamilton has also recently served on special assignment as the co-Executive Director of the California Performance Review for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The CPR’s 2,500-page assessment of California government, A Government for the People for a Change, was released in July 2004.
Prior to joining the Comptroller in 1991, Hamilton was director of state and local services for the Policy Economics Group of KPMG Peat Marwick in Washington, D.C. He served in that position from 1987 through 1990. In 1986-87, Hamilton was executive director of the Select Committee on Tax Equity, a panel created by the Texas Legislature to study the state’s tax structure. Prior to his service with the Select Committee, Hamilton worked for the Texas Association of Taxpayers, a business group interested in tax policy and fiscal responsibility in Texas government. From 1982-86, Hamilton was Associate Deputy Comptroller for Fiscal Management and Chief Revenue Estimator with the Comptroller of Public Accounts. He was also research director for the Comptroller.
Hamilton is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He was recognized as the first recipient of the LBJ School’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1987. Hamilton is married and has three children.
The Honorable Vilma Luna, former Texas State Representative
The Honorable Vilma Luna represented District 33 (Corpus Christi) in the Texas House of Representatives from 1993 until shortly before she joined HillCo Partners on August 1, 2006. In her new role, Representative Luna will focus on developing solutions for HillCo’s clients with public or private-sector issues who would benefit from her insights gleaned from many years as an advocate and a member of the Texas Legislature.
Prior to retiring from the Texas House, Representative Luna served as Vice-Chair of the House Appropriations Committee and as a member of the House Calendars Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Legislative Budget Board. She was an integral voice in the debate over school finance reform during the last several legislative sessions, serving as Vice-Chair of the House Select Committee on School Finance and as a member of the Joint Select Committee on Public School Finance.
Born in Alice Texas, Representative Luna received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from The University of Houston Law Center in 1985. After graduating from law school, she worked for the Harris County District Attorney’s office from 1986 to 1988 and for the Harris County Children’s Protective Services from 1988 to 1990. After a brief stint with the Texas Attorney General’s office, she joined the law firm of Canales & Simonson, P.C. In 2001, she accepted a position as partner in the Corpus Christi office of what is now the Watts Law Firm, L.L.P.
Representative Luna was the first Hispanic woman ever elected to the Texas House of Representatives from Corpus Christi. During her tenure in the House, she spearheaded legislation on behalf of children’s issues, local court efficiency, special education, tax reductions, coastal management and protection, teacher and state employee pay raises, health care, at-risk youth programs, economic development, and consumer protection.
Representative has won numerous awards and recognition from professional and civic organizations, including Southwest Texas State University’s prestigious Walter Richter Humanitarian Award (1997) and the American Heart Association’s Heart of Honor Award (2003).
Over the course of her extraordinarily productive career in public service, Representative Luna was a leading contributor to Texas’ legislative and public dialogue on issues involving budget, health, welfare, education, the rights of abused children and adults, business and taxes.
Eva DeLuna Castro, Senior Budget Analyst at CPPP
Eva DeLuna Castro joined the Center for Public Policy Priorities in 1998. She focuses on state budget issues. Before coming to the center, she was an Analyst for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, researching various policy issues related to state revenue and spending.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Literature, cum laude, from Harvard University in 1988 and a Master's of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997.
Stuart Greenfield, Texas Budget Expert
After obtaining a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Texas, he was fortunate to find a position with the Comptroller of Public Accounts for the State of Texas. He spent 20+ years with the State, where he walked around with a cup of coffee and thought. He had many good thoughts and a few that are still germinating.
Since retiring from the State in 2000, Stuart has had the opportunity to teach economics at various universities in Austin. Among the courses he has taught are principles of economics, managerial microeconomics, comparative economics, public finance, and corporate finance.
Along with teaching, Stuart has continued to do research regarding various public sector issues. His focus has been on advocating an alternative public school finance system for Texas and issues concerning the public sector workforce.
