Steven Dennis Wolens is an attorney inDallas, Texas. He is a principal in the law firmMcKool Smith and serves on theTexas Ethics Commission. Between 1981 and 2005, Wolens served as astate representative for District 103 inDallas County, Texas.

Wolens was born June 4, 1950, in Dallas and grew up inCorsicana, Texas, where his family owned the K. Wolens Department Store. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas in 1969. In 1973, he received his undergraduate degree fromStanford University with distinction and then earned hisJuris Doctor degree fromSouthern Methodist UniversityDedman School of Law in 1976.^[1]

A Democrat, Wolens was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1981 and served for 24 years. During his tenure, he authored legislation related to electricity deregulation, partnerships and limited liability corporations, and antitrust laws. From 1987 to 1992, Wolens served as Chair of the House Business and Commerce Committee. From 1997 to 2002, Wolens chaired the House State Affairs Committee. In the latter role,Texas Monthly magazine noted that Wolens "did things this session that were previously thought to be beyond the grasp of mortals. He made the Religious Right compromise on an abortion bill! He produced an electricity-deregulation bill that won the support of consumers, environmentalists, and utilities! He negotiated with the CEOs of two Fortune 500 companies over dinner and picked up the tab!"^[2]

In 2003, as chair of the House Select Committee on Ethics, he authored and passed a complete revision of Texas ethics laws. After that success,Texas Monthly commented, “At the end of the session, he passed the best ethics bill in the history of the Texas Legislature… One of the great legislators of the modern era logged another big win.”

Texas Monthly named Wolens one of the "Ten Best Legislators" in Texas on six different occasions, describing him as the "House's most dreaded foe and most welcome ally."^[3]

Wolens has served on theTexas Ethics Commission since 2016, including a stint as chair.^[4][5]

As noted above, Wolens was a chief architect of Texas's decision to deregulate the state'selectricity market. While broadly lauded in 1999, that decision led to thenear collapse of the state's electrical grid in thewinter of 2021. A lengthyNew York Times article on the disaster quoted Wolens, who indicated that the legislation intended to spur traditional and renewable energy sources and to encourage the shuttering of old, polluting plants. On those issues, Wolens is quoted, “we were successful." As the article pointed out, Wolens's 1999 legislation was a first iteration and was intended to evolve with the needs of the state.^[6]

Wolens is married to formerDallas mayorLaura Miller. They have three children and live in Dallas.

He was a partner at the Dallas law firms of Baron & Budd and Diamond & McCarthy. He has been a principal of the Dallas firmMcKool Smith since 2008.^[7] He isJewish.^[8]

• 1950 births
• Living people
• Texas lawyers
• Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives
• Spouses of Texas politicians
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata