According to reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission by lobbyists required to register in the state of Texas, as much as $376.6 million was spent to influence state policymakers in 2017. Given the state of Texas spent about $116 billion in 2017, spending $376.6 million to have a say in how those billions are spent can be seen as a wise investment, the equivalent of spending $3 to try to shape $1,000 of spending.
K-12 Education
Is the State Not Spending Enough on Public Education?
One state lawmaker recently accused Texas Governor Greg Abbott of not “spend[ing] the tax $ that you collected from us on our neighborhood schools instead…hoarding it in the treasury.” Setting aside the fact that the Legislature authors the state budget and dictates where money is spent—not the chief executive—this critique gets things wrong in another...
August 20, 2024