|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
Free Market's Statement
Disclosure of Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
Taxpayers should be able to easily discern what tax officials are spending with their hard earned dollars. Our local cities, counties, and school districts should not be allowed to continue to spend millions of dollars on lobbyists without full disclosure for all citizens to see that indeed their tax dollars are being used to defeat the very ideals in which they believe.
According to a recent House Committee interim report, “[a] review of the positions lobbied for by local governments with taxpayer money reveals that these positions are almost uniformly in favor of increased governmental spending and authority, while public opinion surveys show that Texans are broadly and increasingly in favor of more efficient and accountable government.” 1
Additionally, Texans are entitled to know whether or not their hard work is going to fund lobbyists whose work takes more of the fruits of that hard work away from them, in the form of tax increases. It is absurd that taxpayers would be required to pay for such activities and be denied the ability to discover such information, and allow them to decide whether or not they want to support such activity.
This same interim committee noted that “[t]here is valid concern that, under the current disclosure system, citizens cannot obtain accurate information regarding how much of their tax dollars are used to lobby the legislature, and what positions are being advocated by their local governments using these tax dollars.” 2
We are in favor of laws that will help expose the problem of taxpayer funded lobbying and hold local governmental entities accountable. Free Market Foundation believes in limited government, supports disclosure of tax expenditures and believes in prohibiting tax dollars from being used to lobby. HB 1517 does not go as far as we would like, but we recognize that it does address part of the problem and for that, we support it. Ultimately, our goal and position is that using taxpayer money to lobby should be illegal. It violates freedom and is morally repugnant to any free society.
We’ve all heard the saying, robbing Peter to pay Paul. Well the current system that allows no transparency in taxpayer funded lobbying is taxing Peter to once again tax Peter.
Accordingly, we support holding local governments accountable by making their lobbying expenditures transparent and move us closer to eliminating tax dollars from being used to lobby.
1 House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics; Texas House of Representatives, Interim Report 2006: A Report to the House of Representatives, 80th Texas Legislature; Research, Review and Investigate the Expenditures of Taxpayer Money by Local Government and School Boards to Lobby the Legislature (Joint Charge with House Public Education), at 14.
2 See Footnote 1.
Other Resources for Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying:
House Interim Committee Report (pages 13-29)
Tax Man v. TaxPayer by Peggy Venable
State Representative Paxton apposes governement misuse of tax dollars- Free Market Alert
Representative Raises Yet Another Request to Clarify Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying- Free Market Alert
Government Lobbyists Paid with Tax Dollars-Editorial by Steven F. Hotze, M.D.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|