James Frank

James Boisfeuillet Frank (born November 23, 1966) is a businessman from Wichita Falls, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 69, which encompasses Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Knox, and Wichita counties in North Texas.

Background

Frank was reared in Wichita Falls and graduated from S. H. Rider High School, a public institution. He obtained a degree in finance from Texas A&M University in College Station. After college he was employed in Fort Worth.

Since 2000, Frank has owned the Sharp Iron Group, a 130-employee company in Wichita Falls involved in sheet metal and the manufacturing of electrical controls. In 2007, he purchased the Transland Company of California and moved its operations to Texas. Transland manufacturers equipment for crop dusting and aerial firefighting.

He is the vice-chairman of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Frank is a board member of the Lalani Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise located at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls.

In February 2013, newly inaugurated Representative Frank was elected by his colleagues to the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee as the West Texas representative on the panel.

Frank voted for Texas House Bill 2, which prohibited abortion after 20 weeks of gestation and required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Parts of the law were deemed unconstitutional in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. He voted to require narcotics testing of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted against a free breakfast program for public school students.

Frank voted to enact term limits for the statewide constitutional officers, including the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the attorney general, but the measure died, 61–80, in the House. Term limits are allowed in Texas at the municipal level under home-rule charters.

Frank voted to forbid the use of state funds to enforce national gun control laws. He voted to reduce the required hours for concealed handgun training courses. He supported the authorization of concealed handguns on college campuses.

In other legislative votes, Frank opposed a bill, not yet enacted, to forbid texting while driving. He supported the extension of the exemption of certain businesses from the franchise tax.

Frank is also a Trump loyalist.