It has been disclosed that since 2023, up to $5.5 million has been put aside by several Harris County departments and agencies to fund lobbying activities, as the county’s budget war rages on.
The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority, the County Attorney’s Office, and even the Commissioners Court itself have paid up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for lobbying operations, according to statistics from Transparency USA and OpenSecrets.
The use of taxpayer funds for lobbying has been a contentious issue in Texas politics. Critics argue that taxpayer-funded lobbying often lacks transparency and may push for policies contrary to citizens’ interests, such as higher taxes or increased spending. A survey by the Texas Public Policy Foundation found that 81% of Texans oppose taxpayer-funded lobbying.
The fact that there is almost no accountability for this money is among the worst aspects of it all. Cindy Siegel, the Harris County GOP Chair, discussed this with KTRH and stated,
“We harris County has lacked transparency regarding taxpayer spending in recent years dollars.”
She also said that, like many citizen activists, government representatives ought to invest their own time and resources in promoting legislation that matters to them. She asked,
“Why should we permit our elected officials to use taxpayer funds in this manner to lobby other officials?”
According to Siegel, this has been a major concern among Texans for a number of years, and the Texas GOP platform presently calls for the elimination of taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Regretfully, a bill that would have done so was defeated in this session’s Texas House, which is controlled by Dade Phelan. According to Siegel, voters must remove elected politicians who favour using taxpayer dollars in this manner, such as County Judge Lina Hidalgo and the Democratic county commissioners running for reelection in 2026, since the legislature did not take action.
Moreover, In 2025, Harris County and its subsidiaries have spent approximately $160,000 on federal lobbying so far. This includes $40,000 each from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Harris County Precinct 2.
Efforts to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying, such as Texas Senate Bill 19, have faced setbacks. While initially aiming to prohibit political subdivisions from using public funds to hire lobbyists or pay dues to lobby organisations, amendments weakened the bill, allowing nonprofit associations to continue lobbying with taxpayer funds.
