Proposals to end taxpayer-funded lobbying have been filed in the Texas legislature, setting up another battle over the Republican legislative priority.
Taxpayer-funded lobbying refers to a common practice among cities, counties, and school districts that hire lobbyists with local tax revenue. These lobbyists then work to advance policies that benefit local governments—often at the expense of citizens.
Although citizens have long been against the practice—a 2019 poll from the Texas Public Policy Foundation showed 88 percent of Texans oppose it—lawmakers have failed to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Heading into this session, however, the issue has been made a legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas. On Tuesday, the first day of bill filing, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston)—a longtime advocate of a ban—again filed legislation to end the practice once and for all.
“For too long, taxpayers’ and parents’ own tax dollars have been used to lobby against them in Austin. These taxpayer-funded lobbyists have squandered millions of dollars of your hard-earned dollars to lobby against border security, election integrity, parental choice in education, teacher pay raises, and even fought against property tax relief and reform,” said Middleton. “Taxpayer-funded lobbying groups, like Texas Association of School Boards, use your school tax dollars to lobby against the bill to stop men from going into girls’ restrooms and locker rooms and invited transgender advocates to train school board members on how to use pronouns. Time and time again, we have seen taxpayer-funded lobbyists advocate against Texans and against common sense.”
Senate Bill 239 would prohibit public funds from being used to hire lobbyists.
A recent study by the Huffines Liberty Foundation revealed that local governments spent about $75 million on registered lobbyists in 2021, not including the salaries of in-house lobbyists and funds funneled to pro-government associations such as the Texas Municipal League and Texas Association of School Boards—meaning the actual cost of taxpayer-funded lobbying is much higher.
“We don’t need an Austin lobbyist middleman between state and local elected officials. We are elected to represent our constituents directly. Now is the time to end this unethical practice of taxpayer dollars being used to lobby against taxpayers,” Middleton added.
Similar legislation has already been filed in the House by several lawmakers, including State Reps. Briscoe Cain (R–Deer Park), Ellen Troxclair (R–Lakeway), and Terri Leo-Wilson (R–Galveston).
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