Matt Rinaldi

Matt Rinaldi
Texas State Representative from District 115 (Dallas County)
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Bennett Ratliff
Personal details
Born	April 11, 1975 Bridgeport, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Corley M. Rinaldi
Residence	Irving, Dallas County Texas, USA
Alma mater	James Madison University Boston University School of Law
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Matthew Daniel "Matt" Rinaldi (born 1975), is an attorney from Irving, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 115 in Dallas County.^[1]

Background

Rinaldi graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, at which he received national recognition for his successful effort to have the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag recited prior to meetings of the student government association. He thereafter graduated in 2001 with a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law in Boston.^[2]

Upon receiving his law degree, Rinaldi became a litigation associate with the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the firm that represented George W. Bush in the United States Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore, which determined Bush the winner of the disputed electoral votes in Florida and hence the winner of the 2000 presidential election. Rinaldi is an advocate of tort reform. He serves on the board of directors of a real estate investment trust in the hospitality industry.^[2]

Political Life

In 2012, Rinaldi placed third in the Republican primary election for the House District 115 seat but rebounded to victory on March 4, 2014. The one-term incumbent, Bennett Ratliff, narrowly lost re-nomination to Rinaldi, who received 4,167 votes (50.6 percent) to Ratliff's 4,075 votes (49.4 percent).^[3] On March 1, 2016, in the Republican primary, incumbent Rinaldi held off the challenge from Ratliff who tried unsuccessfully to regain his seat. The votes were 8,804 to 7,668 (53.45% to 46.55%) in favor of Rinaldi.^[4] Ratliff is the son of former State Senator and Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff and the brother of Thomas Ratliff, a member of the elected Texas State Board of Education.

Rinaldi challenged Bennett Ratliff in 2014 and received support from the Tea Party movement, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Texas Eagle Forum and Texas Right to Life, among others. Rinaldi is affiliated with the Greater Irving Republican Club, the Coppell Republican Club and the Metrocrest Republican Club. He has been active in Rotary International and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He and his wife, Corley M. Rinaldi (married 2010), attend St. Ann Catholic Parish Roman Catholic Church in Coppell.^[2]

84th Legislative Session

During the 84th Legislative Session, Rep. Rinaldi served on the Agriculture & Livestock committee and the Business & Industry committee. As a strong opponent of abortion and gun control, he joint- and co-authored many successful pieces of legislation that were signed into law, including: SB 1^[5] (giving property tax relief to Texas homeowners), HB 11^[6] (authorizing additional troopers for border security and strengthing smuggling laws, HB 283^[7] (increasing government transparency by requiring certain governmental bodies to make audio and video recordings of open meetings available online), HB 937^[8] (allowing guns on college campuses), SB 2065^[9] (exempting religious organizations and adjacent organizations from civil and criminal penalties relating to discrimination against same-sex marriage), and SB 652^[10] (protecting franchisors from frivolous lawsuits).

With education being a priority for Rep. Rinaldi, he fought to eliminate or minimize the effects of Robin Hood on Texas public school districts with HB 945^[11] and HB 1411^[12] (Robin Hood Relief Act). HB 945 would repeal Robin Hood altogether and end recapture of any of the state’s school districts’ local tax base. And HB 1411 would reduce the percentage of local tax dollars subject to Robin Hood recapture as a district’s property tax valuation increases. Neither bill received a hearing in the 84th Legislative Session due to constitutional problems with the bills and decades of court rulings addressing the issues in the legislation.

A strong advocate against illegal immigration, Rep. Rinaldi co-authored legislation that would repeal instate tuition for illegal immigrants, end welfare benefits for illegals,^[13] and penalize businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.^[14][15]

Rep. Rinaldi was rated the number one conservative in the Texas House by a Rice University study that draws on the 1,138 non-lopsided roll call votes taken during the 2015 regular session.^[16] He received a 100% rating which tied him in the number one spot on the Texans for Fiscal Responsibility index with seven other conservative members.^[17] He was also the top rated Representative by the Texas Eagle Forum with a 98% rating.^[18] Rep. Rinaldi also received an "A+" rating from the transportation and property rights organization, TURF (Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom), which is a group that aims to end wasteful spending and increase transparency of tax dollars on transportation projects.^[19]

Rep. Rinaldi had a 100% pro-life voting record on the Texas Right to Life scorecard and was designated by the organization as one of 14 "Pro-life Heroes" in the legislature for his work in passing pro-life legislation.^[20][21]

References

1. "Matt Rinaldi". Texas Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
2. "About Matt Rinaldi". mattrinaldi.com. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
3. "Republican runoff primary returns (House District 115), March 4, 2014". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
4. "Republican primary returns (House District 115), March 1, 2016". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
5. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for SB 1". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
6. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 11". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
7. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 283". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
8. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 937". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
9. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for SB 2065". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
10. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for SB 652". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
11. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 945". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
12. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 1411". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
13. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 306". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
14. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 183". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
15. "Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for SB 374". www.capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
16. Jones, Mark P.; 7, July. "The 2015 Texas House, from left to right, by Mark P. Jones". TribTalk. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
17. "2015 Fiscal Index - House". index.empowertexans.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
18. "2015 Scorecard | Texas Eagle Forum". www.texaseagle.org. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
19. Hall, Terri. "TURF releases 2015 Report Card for 84th Legislature". www.texasturf.org. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
20. "Texas Right to Life". Texas Right to Life. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
21. "Pro-Life Legislator Spotlight: Rep. Matt Rinaldi". Texas Right to Life. Retrieved 2015-09-23.