View of the Texas Capitol from outside the ornate iron fence
With two weeks to go in the biennial session of the Texas Legislature, lawmakers in Austin still have much remaining business to tend to. Governor Greg Abbott (R) and many legislators, however, have already accomplished their top priority for the session by enacting legislation, which Governor Abbott signed last week, creating an education savings account (ESA) program that will provide an estimated 100,000 children with school choice next year.
The Texas Senate has passed school choice legislation multiple times over the past six years, only to see it die in the House. Yet school choice isn’t the only marquee conservative reform that might finally get to Governor Abbott’s desk this year after being stymied in the Texas House for the better part of a decade. That depends, however, on whether Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and his colleagues can get Senate Bill 19 to Governor Abbott’s desk before adjourning session on June 2.
Senate Bill 19, which the Texas Senate passed in March and is now awaiting consideration in the House State Affairs Committee, would bar local governments from using taxpayer dollars to hire contract lobbyists. According to research from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based think tank, local governments across the state spent $98.6 million on lobbyists in 2023, up from $75 million in 2021.
“Up to $100 million per year of Texans’ tax dollars are used to hire Austin lobbyists that then lobby against taxpayers and parents,” says Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), author of SB 19. “This is waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Beyond the considerable sum of local tax dollars going toward lobbyists, SB 19 proponents point out that taxpayer-funded lobbyists frequently advocate against the interests of taxpayers. Contract lobbyists for local governments, for example, have been some of the most vocal opponents of property tax relief and legislation that would require more conservative budgeting at the local level.
Senator Middleton notes that opposition to tax relief and government spending restraint are not the only ways in which taxpayer dollars are used to lobby against taxpayer interests. Middleton points out how local governments also pay contract lobbyists to oppose school choice, defeat proposals to enhance border security, and stop legislation that seeks to remove woke ideology from government-run schools.
In addition to highlighting how local governments hire lobbyists to advocate against the interests of taxpayers, SB 19 proponents also challenge their opposition to name a single instance in which local governments hired a firm to lobby in favor of a tax cut. This author contacted the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Association of Counties, the top opponents of SB 19, asking if they could point to an example of when local government-hired lobbyists advocated for a tax cut. They have yet to provide such an example, but this article will be updated if that changes.
Polling shows that SB 19 would prove to be a politically popular policy change. A poll released by Texas Public Policy Foundation in February found that more than 80% support prohibition of taxpayer-funded lobbying.
“The overwhelming majority of Texans oppose using tax dollars to fund lobbyists,” TPPF noted in its release on the findings of the February poll. “More than four out of five registered voters oppose it with just 7% saying they approve.”
“We don’t need an Austin lobbyist middleman between state and local elected officials,” Senator Middleton adds. “We are elected to represent our constituents directly.”
Though it doesn’t match the amounts spent in Texas, local tax dollars are spent on contract lobbyists in many other states, both blue and red. Lawmakers in Tennessee and Florida have also expressed interest in stamping out taxpayer-funded lobbying. Should Texas become the first state to do so, it likely won’t be long before legislation like SB 19 is filed in other state capitals.
