Summary

Prohibits lobbying by associations which accept funding from political subdivisions./1/

Background

This legislation mirrors a recent court ruling which found that the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) was could not use general revenue to fund lobbying efforts. That ruling would not have impacted cities, which regularly employ lobbyists to communicate with the state./2/

This bill would widen the statute relied in the court case such that the ruling would apply to all taxpayer funded organizations (notably the Texas Municipal League (TML)), prohibiting them from lobbying the Legislature for more taxpayers dollars or for any other purpose.

Links and resources

/1/ Americans For Prosperity "Legislation filed to curb taxpayer-funded lobbying by associations"
/2/ George, Patrick "Judge rules county group cannot continue lobbying" Austin American Statesman 1/6/07