Lobbying is the practice of direct communication with legislative or executive branch officials to influence their decisions about public policy. In Texas, where lawmakers work part time, lobbyists play a significant role in influencing legislation and shaping administrative action.
Many businesses and other groups pay lobbyists to represent their interests before the Texas Legislature and state agencies. A lobbyist generally is a salaried company employee or a professional, freelance lobbyist working alone or at a firm. Some lobbyists are lawyers, though legal training isn't required. Others are former state employees and officials whose experience can be valuable to clients.
Lobbyists working in the state are required to register with the Texas Ethics Commission. There are roughly 1,800 lobbyists on file with the commission who report any spending on state officials and employees, including the governor and lieutenant governor and members of the Texas Legislature. Their official contact with officers at state agencies, such as the Texas Commission on Environment Quality and the Texas Department of Transportation, also must be reported.
Lobbyists who spend more than $500 in a calendar quarter or are compensated more than $1,000 in a calendar quarter must register.
They are then required to report periodically their aggregate spending totals in six categories:
- transportation and lodging;
- food and beverages;
- entertainment;
- gifts;
- awards and mementos; and
- the attendance of a state officer or employee at a political fundraiser or charity event.
They also categorize their expenditures by recipient type:
- state senators;
- state representatives;
- elected or appointed state officers, other than state senators or state representatives;
- legislative agency employees;
- executive agency employees;
- immediate family (spouse and dependent children) of a state officer or employee;
- expenditures for guests (when invited by a state senator, a state representative, other elected or appointed state officers, a legislative agency employee, or an executive agency employee);
- expenditures for events to which all legislators are invited
Lobbyists must file detailed, or itemized, reports listing the names of recipients if they spend:
- more than $100.80 (60% of the per diem for lawmakers) in one day for food and beverages, transportation, or lodging for a state officer or employee;
- more than $100.80 (60% of the per diem for lawmakers) in one day for entertainment for a state officer or employee or for the spouse or dependent child of a state officer or employee;
- more than $50 for a gift, award, or memento for a state officer or employee;
- any amount for a state officer or employee to attend a political fundraiser or charity event.
Lobbyists' reports are available on the commission's Web site and at its office, 201 East 14th St., 10th Floor, Austin, Texas, 78701. The commission made the reports available in a searchable format in April 2009.
The ethics commissions also provides a guide that explains Chapter 305 of the Texas Government Code, the statute governing lobbyists, which includes a complicated set of restrictions on their activity.
