Helen Giddings facts for kids

Helen Giddings, born on April 21, 1945, is an American businesswoman and a former politician. She was a member of the Democratic Party and served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1993 until January 2019. During her time there, she worked on important committees like Appropriations, Calendars, and State Affairs.

Early Life and Career

Helen Giddings went to the University of Texas at Arlington. Before becoming a politician, she worked as an executive at Sears, Roebuck & Company. She was in charge of human resources for 11 states, which means she helped manage the people working there.

In 1989, she started her own company called Multiplex, Inc. This company focuses on special concessions, like food and drinks at events. She is the president of this company.

Helen Giddings also helped lead the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce as its board chairman. In the 1980s, she was the Vice-Chair of the Dallas Transit Board. She used her skills to help end a bus driver strike, which means she helped solve a big disagreement between bus drivers and their company. Because of her important work, D Magazine named her one of Dallas's top influential people in the 1980s.

Working in the Texas Legislature

Helen Giddings spent a lot of her time in the Texas Legislature working to make sure all children have good chances for education.

Helping Kids Learn

• In 1997, she created a law for the "Read to Succeed Program." This program helped improve reading for students across Texas.
• It also allowed Texas drivers to get a special license plate. The money from these plates helps support school libraries chosen by the drivers.
• The "Read to Succeed" license plate was special because a child designed it!
• She also wrote a law to stop five-year-olds from being placed in special alternative education programs.
• In 1995, she created a law to keep businesses that sell alcohol away from schools.
• Helen Giddings also helped pass laws about dyslexia and other learning differences. These laws created programs to help students with these challenges.
• She also supported programs for adults who wanted to continue their education.

Fair Funding for Colleges

Helen Giddings worked hard to make sure colleges and universities received fair funding. She wanted to end differences in funding based on where a school was located or the background of its students. Her efforts led to more equal funding for colleges in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Equal Opportunities for Students

To help minority and rural students get into college, Helen Giddings helped create the "Top 10% rule" in 1997. This rule helps students who are in the top 10% of their high school class get into public universities in Texas.

Protecting People and Solving Crimes

• As the chair of the Business and Industry committee, she helped create a new system for Worker's Compensation. This system helps workers who get hurt on the job.
• She also wrote five bills to help prevent Identity Theft, punish criminals who steal identities, and help victims of identity theft.
• In 2003, she wrote a very long document called the Business Organization Code, which helps organize how businesses work.
• Helen Giddings also cared about justice. She wrote a law to create a special unit within the Texas Rangers agency to investigate unsolved crimes.

Health and Safety for Texans

In 2001, Helen Giddings created an important law that requires every high school student in Texas to learn CPR. CPR is a life-saving skill that helps someone who has stopped breathing or whose heart has stopped. The Texas Affiliate of the American Heart Association gave her the "Heart of Honor" award for this work. They also promised $1.5 million to help with the program.

National and International Work

Helen Giddings was the first woman of color and the first Texan to be elected president of the National Foundation of Women Legislators (NFWL). This group helps women who are elected officials. She also worked to improve trade and cultural connections between South Africa and the United States. She received awards from former President Nelson Mandela and helped host President Thabo Mbeki when he visited Texas. To honor her work in South Africa, Prairie View A&M University created the Helen Giddings Scholarships for students from South Africa.

Helen Giddings was re-elected in the Democratic primary election on March 4, 2014. She won with 9,014 votes, which was 87.7 percent of the total votes.

A Political Walkout in 2003

In 2003, some Texas politicians from the state House and Senate made national news. They traveled to other states, Oklahoma and New Mexico, to stop a vote on a new plan for drawing election districts. They did this to prevent a "quorum," which means having enough members present to legally vote.

Most of the House Democrats went to a hotel in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Helen Giddings, however, stayed in Texas. Even though she stayed, she said she supported the other Democrats who left. She was later taken to the Texas capitol by state troopers.