TAPA has put together an excellent lobbying team to defend our gains, block harmful legislation and pass new initiatives. Team members include Bill Messer, recently named by Texas Monthly as one of the 25 Most Powerful People in Texas Politics; former chairman of the House Committee on Public Health, Jaime Capelo; and Mike Hull, TAPA's chief negotiator of House Bill 4, an experienced litigator and honored as one of The Best Lawyers in America since 1999.

In a poll released by The Quorum Report, Messer was named as one of the five “Most Effective” lobbyists as chosen by Texas legislators, media, and other lobbyists. During his last four terms as a State Representative, Messer was chosen as one of Texas’s Ten Best Legislators by Texas Monthly. Quoting from the January, 2005 Texas Monthly, “Bill Messer has the best connection in the Capitol—no one outside Tom Craddick’s immediate family is closer to the Speaker of the House—and unsurpassed institutional knowledge.”

A graduate of Yale University, Capelo served in the Texas House for four terms. He authored or sponsored about 100 bills which are now Texas law. Much of his legislative work was focused on improving quality and access to healthcare. Capelo was an ardent supporter of House Bill 4 and Proposition 12 and stood up as the Democratic leader for lawsuit reform. During his legislative tenure Capelo co-sponsored legislation that established the Texas Children’s Health Insurance Program and was twice named one of Texas Medicine’s “Ten Best” legislators.

“We have a superb and persuasive lobbying team committed to preserving and advancing meaningful medical liability reforms” said TAPA chair Dr. Howard Marcus. “Our team is keenly aware of the enormous damage that could be done if there were any erosion or reversal of the damage cap or any of the other medical liability reforms of the 2003 legislative session.”