Thread by @ChuckDeVore

I've been reading the #Texas House Committee Substitute for SB10 capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/His…, a bill which, as filed, sought to ban counties and cities from using taxpayer funds to lobby the legislature. @TPPF 1/n

Last Friday, the House State Affairs Committee amended the bill beyond all recognition. Now, instead of a ban on lobbying by cities and counties, lawyers are allowed unlimited lobbying and they no longer have to report it. 2/n

Further, SB10 now repeals SB65 authored by @TeamBettencourt in 2019 and signed into law by @GovAbbott. SB65 required Texas's political subdivisions to report their lobbying expenditures. Many have dragged their feet and not reported. capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/His… 3/n

Thus, SB10 is a bold move by Texas's lobbying empire - a group of people who bring in about $41 million from local government every two years to lobby for higher taxes and greater local government powers to regulate. 4/n

Instead of putting some restrictions on taxpayers seeing their tax money used for lobbying, something that polls have consistently shown large numbers of Texans oppose (86% in the most recent poll). texaspolicy.com/new-poll-finds… 5/n

SB10 now opens the door to unlimited lobbying - with no reporting - so long as the lobbyists in question are also lawyers! Amazing. Further, local government contracts with lobbying firms no longer have to be reported to the public. 6/n

This brings to mind a few more polls. A few years back, Gallup polled Americans on which social entities they thought had too much power. Lobbyists came out on top with 71%, beating big business, banks, and the federal government. news.gallup.com/poll/147026/am… 7/n

.@Gallup has also polled over the years on professions in which Americans have the most trust. Nurses and military officers usually come out on top. news.gallup.com/poll/224639/nu… 8/n

At the bottom of the public’s list for having the lowest honesty and ethical standards: Members of Congress (11%), car salespeople (10%), and lobbyists (8%). 9/10

SB10 was a good bill - until the lobbyists and trial attorneys wrecked it. Maybe the bill can be salvaged on the Texas House floor in a few days. Or, maybe not. If it's not fixed, SB10 needs to die. @TPPF texaspolicy.com/press/tppf-law… 10/10