1/ Allow the advocacy and education; Stop the wheel greasing. https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/city-of-austin-defends-taxpayer-funded-lobbying-ahead-of-contentious-legislative-session/ #txlege

2/ A constituent asked me yesterday if I support tax-payer funded lobbying. The Legislature will be addressing this issue again this session. The Senate had a hearing on the topic yesterday, so I'm sharing my response.

3/ Last session I asked other legislators. While larger municipalities hire FT Gov't Affairs staff to help inform legislators of issues & how they will impact the city/ county, smaller jurisdictions can’t afford to, so they rely on lobbyists to advocate and educate.

4/ My experience on an HOA board helped form my opinion. We had an attorney inform us on new laws affecting HOAs. Without his experience, we could easily have broken laws unwittingly. Many HOAs still don’t realize state law on political yard signs supersedes HOA rules.

5/ Lobbyists have an important role when it comes to providing information & advocacy. What I take issue w/ is the exorbitant spending on lawmakers from certain lobbyists, but rarely the lobbyists who work for cities/ counties. Big spending is coming from industry lobbyists.

6/ School board members were concerned about the potential legislation and how it would affect school districts who also rely on help from lobbyists.

7/ I do not support taking away the ability for cities, counties or other gov't bodies to hire lobbyists. I do support limits on how lobbyists can spend money on legislators.

8/ Just as the title insurance industry had to stop paying for Realtors’ marketing, etc., nearly two decades ago, lobbyists should stop paying for all the wining and dining of legislators. Perhaps if legislators were paid a salary (above $600/month), that wouldn’t be an issue.

9/ And finally, if we are going to be critical of lobbyists for cities, counties & other gov't bodies, we need to be just as critical of lobbyists for corporations & industry. They affect us more, in all aspects of our lives, than the so-called tax-payer funded lobbyists. #txlege