Longtime Texas Senate secretary dies
AUSTIN — Betty King, the longest-serving secretary of the Texas Senate in Texas history who guided the Upper Chamber's business over four decades, longer than any other secretary , died Monday after a long illness. She was 89.
King , who worked at the Capitol in various positions for more than a half century, served as secretary from 1977 until her retirement in 2001, perhaps the longest Capitol tenure in both legislative chambers. She had started as a House Appropriations Committee clerk in 1947.
As secretary, she called the roll for every recorded vote – reading every senators' names thousands during her tenure – and her office oversaw the 31-ssenators' budgets. That was a key job that required her to deal adeptly with strong and sometimes difficult political personalities over the years, which she did with grace and patience, and one reason that she was an indispensible presence in the Senate under four lieutenant governors and working for 97 different senators – a record.
A committee room behind the Senate Chamber and a public service award were named for her when she retired.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/Longtime-Texas-Senate-secretary-dies-5928424.php
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