Sep
29
Written by:
William Lutz
9/29/2010 9:10 AM
File this under most outrageous claim made by a city councilor this year. Arlington city council member Gene Patrick was quoted in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as follows:
At-large Councilman Gene Patrick defended the lobbyist expense, saying that it helps protect Arlington taxpayers from unfunded mandates and new taxes. "I am a staunch believer in the principle of home rule. I don't like them telling us what we can and can not charge our own citizens," Patrick said.
You have got to be kidding me. Everyone knows taxpayer funded lobbying is about raising taxes, not lowering them. Specifically, the City of Arlington was part of the lobbying effort for TLOTA -- the Texas Local Option Transportation Act -- which would have allowed local governments to place tax increases, including gas and car registration tax increases, on the ballot for commuter rail. Yet the voters of Arlington have rejected joining The T (Tarrant County's Transportation District) three times.
Moreover, the top priority of organizations like the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Association of Counties, as well as individual city and county lobbyists, is preserving city and county authority to raise taxes without voter approval, keeping it easy to raid the wallets of local citizens and businesses.The policies that taxpayer-funded lobbyists promote have been a disaster for the Texas economy and business climate. Property taxes have skyrocketed in urban areas in recent years. A recent Lone Star Foundation study documents this.
By the way, congratulations to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for having the courage to report on this issue, and for filing suit to prevent the City of Grapevine from hiring former Rep. Fred Hill as a lobbyist in a closed session. I hightly recommend reading Aman Batheja's article on taxpayer funded lobbying. It correctly points out that while cities are laying off police, fire-fighters, and librarians, taxpayer-funded lobbyists remain untouched. (So much for the tired city argument that the reason they want to raise taxes all the time is to prevent cuts to public safety. That was always a bogus argument, because the bills pending before the Legislature only required voter approval for tax increases above 5 percent. But now the cities' disingenuousness is on full display.)
1 comment(s) so far...
You are so right! Taxpayer funded lobbyists and the lobby associations which represent cities and counties -- the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Municipal League -- have consistently fought any efforts to put taxpayers in greater control over the growth of their government. They consistently opposed all efforts to enact taxpayer protections such as requiring voter approval before spending increases beyind the combined increase in population and inflation. To claim that lobbyists -- funded by taxpayers but representing local elected officilas' interests -- as protecting taxpayers is like putting the fox in the henhouse and claim the fox is protecting the hens.
It should be noted that even when the legislature is not in session, some lobbyists are raking in big bucks. Example: Fred Hill, former state legislator whose seat at the Capitol was still warm when he started signing lobby contracts with cities in his district. Is that a conflict of interest? Well, now Fred Hill has lobby clients -- all cities and local government entities -- who are paying him as much as $700,000 THIS YEAR WHEN THE LEGISLATURE IS NOT EVEN IN SESSION. And we wonder why voters are so cynical about government. Citizens should not need to worry that while they are working hard to earn a living, take care of their families and pay their taxes - that those tax dollars are paying lobbyists (often to work against the taxpayers' interests). And they certainly should not worry that their elected officials are planning to leave their elected positions and line their own pockets - with taxpayer dollars!
By Peggy Venable on
9/29/2010 10:46 AM
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