Over the past decade, union officials have scored a series of private-sector organizing victories in Texas, typically by using “top-down” tactics geared more toward sapping employers’ will to resist unionization than toward mobilizing employee support. Keeping unionism voluntary is beneficial, but additional safeguards are now needed.
Local Government
When Government Lobbies Itself: Why Texas Should Ban Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying
Texas local governments use taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists to influence state legislation—creating conflicts of interest, distorting democratic accountability, and undermining the interests of Texas taxpayers. Key points: Taxpayer-funded lobbying expenditures more than doubled from the 85th to the 89th Legislature, now reaching as high as $111.5 million. Taxpayer-funded lobbyists consistently opposed legislation involving property...
April 6, 2026