American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - 115

ConventionCoverage: Texas Alliance of Energy Producers

Texas Alliance Chairman George Rogers presented a pair of special membership awards during the luncheon at the Alliance's annual
convention, April 21-22 in Wichita Falls, Tx. LEFT: Cobra Oil and Gas Corporation President Jeff R. Dillard (left) and Vice President
Robert W. Osborne (right) accept the Special Operator/Producer Membership Award. RIGHT: Rogers (far right) presents the Special
Service/Supply Membership Award to LLP Lindemann Drilling Inc. Accepting are, from left, Shane Lindemann, Jennifer Lindemann, and
Doug Lindemann.

That report was distributed to the
Texas delegation during the Alliance's
Washington call-up in January, at which
federal government relations adviser
Charles Stenholm said association representatives met with 27 of 35 members.
Stenholm mentioned that Texas held
six committee chairmanships in the 115th
Congress, and that John Cornyn was majority whip and assistant majority leader
in the U.S. Senate. "That is not insignificant," he opined.
He added that, barring reconciliation
instructions from the federal budget conference committee to increase revenues,
"I think tax reform is going to become a
2016 issue. I don't believe it is going to
turn this year."
As an aside, Stenholm mentioned he
was involved with several groups focused
on the federal budget-among them the
League for a Responsible Federal Budget,
the Concord Coalition and Fix the Debt
Campaign. He said those groups were
sending delegations to early primary states
to educate the citizenry with the goal of
making the federal debt a presidential
campaign issue. "We want to make sure
those who want to be president are at
least asked what they will do to deal
with our debt and deficit problems," Stenholm described. "We have an $18 trillion
debt, but the one that concerns most of
us is the $73 trillion of unfunded liabilities
in the so-called entitlements."
Since its call-up, Mills advised the
board, the Alliance has convinced Congressman Lamar Smith, a Republican
from San Antonio and chairman of the
House Science Technology Committee,

and South Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar
to co-author a letter defending IDCs, percentage depletion, and the passive loss
provisions. At the time of the Alliance's
convention, Mills said, "We have 17
signers on that letter. That is moving forward."
The Alliance's second federal priority,
Mills went on, is repealing the ban on
exporting crude oil. He said he participated
in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "His advice
was that Republicans are free marketers
and we need to work on the Democrats,"
Mills related.
"Well, we have been through our
friend-raiser programs," he responded.
Friend-raisers is a program through
which Alliance members donate to politicians' election campaigns. "When we go
to Washington, a lot of times we are
meeting with staff," Mills reflected. "Our
friend-raisers program gets us in to see
the decision makers in the House and
Senate. I can't tell you how much that
means."
Strategic Planning
Chairman George Rogers broached
the subject of long-range planning by
saluting the Alliance's progress since the
old North Texas and West-Central Texas
oil and gas associations merged in 2000.
He noted membership had quadrupled
since the two regional groups combined
into a single, statewide organization.
"We have made great strides, but are
there opportunities for us to have a bigger
statewide presence?" Rogers posed. "Are
there opportunities for us to be better

represented in Austin, Tx., and Washington? In every aspect where we already
are doing a very good job, can we do an
even better job?"
Board members voted to form the
strategic planning committee, which will
report to the Board of Directors' Nov. 45 meeting in Fort Worth with recommendations to guide association activities
through 2020. In a second vote, board
members also approved the appointment
of Alliance immediate past-Chairman
Townes G. Pressler as chairman of the
committee, serving alongside Mary Ann
Williams, Mike Elyea, Mark Metzler and
Brian Miller.
One aspect of strategic planning,
Rogers mentioned, is the Alliance's communications programs. In addition to its
monthly newsletter, he pointed to Eyes
on Texas & Washington, a weekly report
on state and federal issues directed by
public affairs specialist Katie Carmichael,
as well as the association's growing online
and social media presence under the guidance of intern Erin Hudson.
"We probably should do an even better
job of communicating with our membership," Rogers mused. "The planning committee will look into that."
❒

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