AUSTIN – One of Texas’ largest lobbying organizations appears to have been spending thousands of dollars in taxpayers’ money on fine dining rather than priority issues of the community, the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) said..
In a five-month span from March to July 2019, the Texas Municipal League (TML) spent a total of $9,177.14 on food and drinks with government officials and employees, the TEC said.
Five TEC documents detail the exact amounts the TML has been spending on dinners each month.
The TML spent no money on transportation and lodging, entertainment, gifts, awards and mementos or political fundraisers and charities. It did spend $329.09 on mass media communications for those five months.
Funds toward state senators, representatives and legislative branch employees varied depending on the month. For example, state senators received $386.24 in May while only receiving $56.36 in April and June.
TML paid executive agency employees $104.62 and immediate family members of legislatures $83.47 for March only. No money was spent on other elected or appointed state officers or at events where all legislators were invited or guests at during the five-month period.
There has been no report detailing what was discussed at TML officials' dinners with lawmakers and government employees, but watchdogs speculate they talked about how to resist tax caps or reductions over these dinners. TML did not respond to Texas Business Coalition inquiries.
The TEC publishes monthly reports. The collection of reports regarding TML spending activities for the entire year of 2019 can be accessed on the TEC’s website.
Being one of the state’s largest lobbyist groups, TML collects significant taxpayer funding via membership dues from cities, counties and municipalities.
