Grayson Times

One Texas lawmaker has sent letters to hundreds of cities and school districts, including the Tom Bean Independent School District, questioning how much taxpayer money is spent on lobbying.

Rep. Mayes Middletown (R-Wallisville) requested the information from Tom Bean ISD and Superintendent Kelly Lusk responded in an email, “We spent a total of $278.42 on legislative advocacy in fiscal year 2019-20. We should spend $445 during the 2020-21 fiscal year.”

Tom Bean ISD, which is northeast of Dallas, did not respond to a request for comment by the Grayson Times on how much it spends on association dues and the percentage of those dues that go toward lobbying.

Data from Middleton's office shows up to $41 million per year is spent by local governments on Austin lobbyists, the East Houston News reported.

Middleton and Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) filed lobbying bills HB 740 and SB 234, respectively, in December to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. This is not the first legislation they have introduced and both have fought against the practice for years. 

As reported by the Texas Business Coalition, Hall and Middleton vowed to continue to fight against tax-funded lobbying after the defeat of a bill (SB 29) last February, which failed in the House by a 58-85 vote.

“Taxpayer-funded lobbyists have opposed property tax relief, election integrity, disclosures of what bonds truly cost taxpayers, the constitutional ban on a state income tax, and they even opposed the bill to fund and protect our teacher’s retirement pensions,” Middleton told East Houston News. “Taxpayers are forced to pay for lobbyists that lobby against their best interests. Taxpayer-funded lobbying is a modern practice and a bad one.” 

At least one poll shows a majority of Texans opposes their tax revenues being used to pay lobbyists. The Texas Public Policy Foundation last year released a poll that found nearly nine out of 10 Texans, or 88%, oppose using tax dollars to pay lobbyists.