January News
Well, January 2023 is about to come to a close. That’s hard to believe… I guess time flies when you are having fun! 120 days remain in the 88th Legislative…
Lara Laneri Keel has over twenty-five years of experience in and around the Texas Capitol. She was a founder and partner in the Texas Lobby Group since its inception in 2002 before striking out on her own in 2020. Lara has been representing the interests of a broad portfolio of Fortune 500 Companies and Texas business associations before state legislators, agencies, regulators, and Texas policymakers (78th- 88th Legislative Sessions).
Prior to founding the Texas Lobby Group, Lara served as an in-house business lobbyist with the Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce (TABCC), the state’s largest business association, and continues to serve TABCC as an Executive Committee and Board Member. During her tenure at TABCC, Keel was an expert on employer-sponsored healthcare issues as well as cross-cutting business issues on taxes, education, insurance, and tort reform. Prior to her tenure at TABCC, Lara worked on legislative and policy issues in the Texas Senate with a deep policy and legislative understanding of Healthcare, Appropriations and Sunset Advisory Commission issues.
Raised by parents who made their living in a fourth-generation family business, Lara enjoys representing a wide spectrum of business interests at the Texas Capitol. She understands the impact that state government can have on all businesses that operate in Texas.
KEEL HAS BEEN named the top female hired gun lobbyist in Capitol Inside’s Texas Lobby Power Rankings Biennial Report every year since 2011.
A graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in History, Lara has been a student of Texas politics since 1989 and has built a reputation for success in all aspects of legislative lobbying and management of complicated issues for clients.
Well, January 2023 is about to come to a close. That’s hard to believe… I guess time flies when you are having fun! 120 days remain in the 88th Legislative…
In Texas, we keep “Getting on Down the Road”. After the election and smooth swearing in, the Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is ready to begin a second term! Senate…
November 9, 2022 While the rest of the Country awaits election results, those of us in Texas have ours! There weren’t any real surprises. In Texas, it was a Red…
Regardless of how tomorrow goes, the one thing we can reliably note, is that come Wednesday, you won’t have to watch anymore political adds or receive mail and emails from…
I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! It’s now November 1st. After a year full of Primaries, Primary Run-off, and the General Elections in one week – It’s a scary…
Well, it is officially August! We are 90 days away from statewide elections and right after, bill filing for the next Regular Session of the Texas Legislature begins. The summer…
Last night and into early this morning the Texas Primary Run-Off Election results came to fruition. As we have previously discussed, these elections are vital in determining who will be…
Early voting ended this Friday, May 20th. Election Day is Tuesday! Please be sure to vote and remind your friends! If you don’t vote – you can’t complain! And when…
Two things of importance are happening at once in Texas! First, the Primary Run-off’s in Texas are underway. With 22 House and 2 Senate races up for grabs, those campaigns…
Today – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked the Texas Senate to study 84 charges during the interim, before the 88th Legislative Session begins. That gives us seven months to study…
The 2022 Primary elections finally took place yesterday and looks like we’ve got a lot of run-offs on our hands. After the brutal cycle of the 2021 Covid/Winter Storm Legislative…
Early voting starts today! February 14th. (Don’t forget Valentine’s Day as well!) Primary Election Day is March 1 here in Texas. In Texas, we are off to the races! The…
After a year of Legislative Session(s) – Regular and Special – Campaign Season is in full swing! The Texas primaries begin early voting on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. It’s “Go…
With filing deadline for the next election cycle ending today at 5pm, below is a comprehensive list of lawmakers coming and going in the next season/next Session. With new maps,…
After one Regular Texas Legislative Session and 3 Special Sessions (that’s 230 days and weekends) the “part-time” Texas Legislature has adjourned. Now we move on to campaign season and agency…
As we enter the last two days of the third called special session, the members have been working all weekend into the wee morning hours of the morning. It appears…
It’s officially October – and short of a few small breaks the Texas Legislature is still going since their regular session January start. Members are tired, families fed-up with spouses…
Austin, Texas August 23, 2021 On Friday, the House finally got a quorum to conduct their business and set Committee hearings for this week! When you think things can’t get…
It’s a big hot summer at the Take 2 Texas Lege! The Texas 87th Legislature is back again for its second special session. This past week, the legislature has seen…
There’s just one week left in the Texas 87th Legislative Special Session. Despite D.C. Democrats staying put, Texas had no shortage of excitement – legislators filed in response to the…
Summer’s first special session is hot! More than fifty lawmakers left the state this week as the legislature discussed election integrity, power grid reform, and more. With such a headline-making…
Welcome back to the Capitol! Tomorrow marks the first day of the special session and lawmakers will meet once again to discuss key legislation and address ongoing issues. With subjects…
Big news came this week with the announcement of the first special session for the Texas 87th. The session will begin July 8, so keep an eye out for future…
The election season has already begun! The regular session may be over, but certainly our journey continues. There are rumblings of a special session or two, and a number of…
There are just 10 days left to Sine Die, and news from the capitol is coming out faster than we can print it. From bills signed by Governor Abbott to…
T-minus 17 days to the end of the session and alcohol to-go is here to stay. This past week we celebrated Small Business Week, and there have been major movements…
With just under three weeks left to Sine Die, the Legislature is working as fast as ever. We have for you this mid-week report which provides a comprehensive overview of…
There are 24 days left to Sine Die, and this past week has left us in a breathless whirlwind! Eye-catching headlines include the passage of the Firearm Carry Act, the…
The final countdown begins in the last month of the Texas 87th Session. The budget is in conference committees, bills pass through the chambers as fast as ever, there is…
The Texas 87th saw a number of high-profile bills move through the chamber as the Session quickly approached its final month. With calendars growing longer and longer each day, the…
It’s full steam ahead for the Texas 87th. With just under a month and a half left to go, both chambers are burning the midnight oil as bills fly out…
There’s no rest for the Texas 87th as session deadlines quickly approach. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol after the holiday weekend to buckle down for a week full of committee…
Today leaves 59 days in the Texas 87th legislative session. Both chambers were bustling as an increasing number of bills made their ways out of committees and to the floor…
Just past the halfway mark of the 87th Legislative Session, there was great news for Texas this week as Covid-19 vaccine eligibility expansion was announced, the Senate reviewed important pandemic…
The Cold Storm continues, this time it’s within the Texas Capitol, as leadership and the Legislative offices work on varying solutions to fix storm problems and address future electric issues.…
The Texas 87th is in full swing this week as unrestricted bill filing wraps up on Friday, March 12. To date, there are over 4,000 bills filed in the House…
It keeps getting busier and better with 87 days left for the Texas 87th. With over 4,000 bills filed in both chambers combined, the Senate began referring bills to Committee…
After a record-breaking week across the state, we have our sights set on springing forward with the Texas 87th. While many are still “digging out” from last weeks storm events,…
Legislators were welcomed back to the Capitol this week as the session geared up for the final month before the unrestricted bill filing deadline (March 12). With five action items…
The Texas 87th is about a month into its 140-day session, and the Governor has outlined five priorities to receive emergency action in his State of the State address Monday…
Things are ramping up at the Capitol. The Governor gives his State of the State February 1 at 7 p.m., carried live on Nexstar broadcasting stations, over 2,000 bills have…
After a week-long official hiatus, tomorrow the Texas 87th Legislature is ready to roll. Both Chambers have adopted their Covid rules. In the House, one representative has already tested positive…
Here we are, five days in, and already so much has happened! Masks, hand sanitizers, drones, and safety troopers were in no short supply as Dade Phelan was elected Speaker…
Happy New Year! Everyone is most hopeful now that “2020” is behind us. Let us keep the faith! As we hit the ground running, the 87th Legislature meets tomorrow, January…
Covid Vacines are on the way!!!! Also, by this weekend, there will be a prohibition on contributions to Texas Legislators and other elected officials until after the next Legislation Session. …
COMMITTEE: Health & Human Services TIME & DATE: 9:30 AM, Monday, December 7, 2020 PLACE: E1.012 (Hearing Room) CHAIR: Senator Lois Kolkhorst The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services…
Yes, it is indeed 2020! Shutdowns galore, an unsettled election, riots and an America that is deeply divided create so much uncertainty for us all. Thank goodness for Texas! In…
This Veteran’s Day, the Avon Old Farms School community honored a fallen brother by organizing an all-school 5K in cooperation with APK Charities Corporation—a non-profit founded to honor and remember…
I’d like to say – “oh what a night”. But now it has turned into “ oh what a week!” Everyone in America is just waiting for a true election…
pinkgranitetx Congrats to Pink Granite alum Lara Keel for launching her own lobbying firm! If you haven’t read her interview from 2018 check it out at PinkGranite.org #txlege #pinkgranite #lobbyist #texaspolitics
Lara Keel is branching out to launch her own lobby practice, LLK LLC. “Lara has been a valued friend and partner for many years, and I’m proud of her decision…
Keel has moved up a notch to the fifth spot on the hired guns list as a result after being ranked as highest-ranked female lobbyist in Texas for years.
Keel has been the ultimate contradiction in stereotype in a cutthroat industry that’s been dominated at the top by older white men. Keel will always owe Toomey a significant debt of gratitude for taking her under his wing and serving as one of the most valuable mentors a young upstart could ever hope to have. Some aspiring young lobbyists might think Keel had lost her mind with a decision to go solo at a time when Toomey would ostensibly be making them both richer in the wake of the COVID-19 role for the governor. But Keel has a chance to flourish now as a lobbyist whose services will be in greater demand without the inevitable baggage that apprenticeships and partnerships bring.
Toomey faces another novel new challenge that he hadn’t foreseen in his role as a covid response commander. For the first time in almost two decades, Toomey won’t have Lara Keel as a partner in light of her decision to go out on her own after spending her entire lobby career in his shadow. But Keel’s newfound independence is a wake up call for Toomey who no longer has the luxury of coasting with her as the number two. The amicable break-up should make them both stronger – and Keel has moved up a notch to the fifth spot on the hired guns list as a result after being ranked as highest-ranked female lobbyist in Texas for years.
Lara Keel, #6 Hired Gun Lobbyist in 2019.
Lara Keel – a former state Senate aide– is ranked higher than any other woman who represents multiple clients at the Capitol like she’d been in the early stages of every regular session since 2011.
Keel is only the second female lobbyist to crack the top 10 on the hired gun list since the rankings were conceived in early 2003. Keel has moved into a league of her own as the only woman in the Austin to climb as high as sixth on the hired gun chart where she appears this year.
The keys to Keel’s success have been a genuine and gracious nature that’s made it possible for her to rise above the cutthroat competition that’s an inevitable part of the territory in the business of legislative lobbying. Keel is one of the few if not the only full-time lobbyist who’s universally beloved and respected among her peers in the profession here. Keel’s one of the best in the business here in large part as a function of natural talent and a perpetual desire to keep getting better. She gives Toomey a massive amount of credit for what she’s achieved since he took her under his wing when she entered the occupation that she’s loves as much as anyone could.
Austin lobbyist Lara Keel is the first woman in the past 12 years to be ranked among the ten most powerful hired guns at the Texas Capitol. She’s only the second female to have that distinction since the lobby rankings were conceived in 2003.
Simmons will have a hall-of-fame level lobbyist as a mentor in her new profession as a new member of Mike Toomey’s team at the Texas Lobby Group. Simmons’ affiliation with the firm that Bill Messer and Toomey co-founded also will give her a chance to learn the ropes of the trade from Lara Keel, a highly-respected lobbyist who’s one of the group’s charter members.
Lara Keel is Texas’ most powerful female lobbyist. Starting her career as a staffer in the legislature, Keel now represents the interests of state regulators and law makers.
Lara Keel, a long-time lobby partner of Mike Toomey in one of Austin’s premier political-influence firms.
The rankings in 2011 reflect the growing presence and clout that a newer generation of public affairs professionals have now at the Capitol as the proverbial torch is passed to them. Keel is a prime example – having been elevated to partnership status with lobby titans Bill Messer and Toomey in the star-studded group they lead at the same time she’s become the go-to lobbyist for women legislators at the Capitol. Keel – as a result – has vaulted into the top 20 on the hired gun lobby list after being ranked a rising star lobbyists just four years ago.
I can think of no one who is a greater woman of power and influence in representing businesses before the Legislature and agencies in Texas than Lara Keel. She is a standout in her field.
And its lobbyists are among the most influential…… Lara Laneri Keel, another Republican heavyweight who previously lobbied for the Texas Association of Business and serves on the board of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute.
Some of the lobby’s brightest young members like…Lara Keel…have graduated from the rising stars list in 2007.
A longtime politico in her own right.