San Antonio Standard

Taxpayer-funded lobbying has been scrutinized by some Texas lawmakers, and hundreds of cities, counties and school districts, including the Fort Sam Houston Independent School District, have received letters inquiring about how much they spend on lobbying from a state representative.

Data from the office of Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) show up to $41 million per year is spent by local governments on Austin lobbyists, the East Houston News reported.

Middleton sent the letters to the cities and school districts asking for them to disclose how much they spend on lobbying. 

The Fort Sam Houston ISD, which was asked by the San Antonio Standard on how much the district spends on lobbying, said it does not directly spend on lobbying.

"For Fort Sam Houston ISD, we do not spend any funds directly on lobbying," said Julie Novak, chief financial officer of the district, in an email. "For some associations for which we have memberships, the associations have reported to us the amount of dues that are spent on public education advocacy. For fiscal year 2020, the amount of advocacy expenses through membership dues was $1,803.67."

Novak added, "Our primary objective through public education advocacy is to ensure adequate funding to meet the needs of our students."

Middleton and Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) filed lobbying bills HB 740 and SB 234, respectively, in December to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. Both lawmakers have filed legislation before and have fought against the practice for years.

“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.” 

A majority of Texans oppose their tax revenues being used for lobbying purposes. One poll by the Texas Public Policy Foundation released last year found nearly nine out of 10 Texans, or 88%, oppose using tax dollars to pay lobbyists.