Records: Bush did not disclose oil firm ties
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush omitted in state disclosure forms that he had held a seat on the board of a company that later did business with the state fund he oversees.
Now serving his second term, Bush also recently admitted to having left off his connections to at least 10 other firms on previous filings.
State politicians are required to disclose their personal financial interests to the Texas Ethics Commission on an annual basis to allow for transparency and avoid conflicts of interest.
Bush was a board member of Arabella Exploration, an oil and gas company, starting in January 2014 and resigned in September 2014, records show. Bush was elected that November.
A year later, in October 2015, the School Land Board, which Bush chairs, signed a lease with Arabella for oil and gas exploration in West Texas, as the Texas Tribune first reported. Arabella filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
Bush did not respond to a request for comment on Monday but told the Tribune that omitting the information was an honest mistake.
“Any perceived omission in my personal financial statement was unintentional, and I have never hesitated to amend or correct a report when necessary,” Bush told the Tribune. “My team and I view compliance with the statutes and rules of the (Texas Ethics Commission) as an important duty of an elected official, and monitor rulemaking to maintain an understanding of state reporting guidelines, which we take very seriously.”
In an Oct. 6, 2015 meeting of the School Land Board, which invests the state's oil and gas royalties, the board approved several lease agreements including one with Arabella. Bush recused himself from the vote “because of prior board service on one of the producer companies’ boards” but did not mention Arabella by name.
Bush amended the forms earli
er this month after a sworn complaint had been filed to the Texas Ethics Commission. Bush wrote that he had “inadvertently omitted” his 2014 Arabella board service.
Another amended form contained the names of 10 companies held or owned by St. Augustine Partners, LLC, all of which Bush had not previously disclosed. Some were oil- and gas-related.
Texas law allows politicians 14 days after learning that a report was inaccurate or incomplete to amend their filings with no punishment.
Federal records show that Arabella Exploration made Bush a board member in January 2014 and compensated him with $43,000 and stock options valued at almost $112,000. Bush resigned Sept. 9.
Bush’s office told the Tribune that he did not use any stock options from Arabella and never owned any shares of the company.
Joe Gardner, a former General Land Office employee who says he was let go for bringing to light accounting irregularities related to the agency’s oversight of the Alamo, filed the complaint about Bush’s disclosure forms.
Gardner told the Houston Chronicle that his experience in financial reporting gave him a “natural curiosity” and prompted him to look into information that appeared to be missing.
“I hope that the Ethics Commission will review the complaint with seriousness and come to whatever conclusion that they may deem proper under the circumstances,” Gardner said. “It appears that refiling the report — it’s an admission that the complaint is correct.”