TCAN

Some good news from today’s House Elections Committee hearing:
(1) It started on time! (2) It ended at a reasonable time! (3) The committee passed HB 158, by Rep. Elliott Naishtat (as amended slightly by a committee substitute), which would require reporting of the cash value or fair market value of all gifts to public officials. We had testified in favor of this bill last week, and we are pleased that Chairman Leo Berman has recommended that it be placed on the General Calendar to be heard by the full House.

Today we also lent TCAN support to several other elections-related bills. John testified well on behalf of HB 1735, by Rep. Vicki Truitt (R-Keller), which calls for rigorous ethics training to be provided by the Texas Ethics Commission for state elected officials (including legislators). This bill was left pending in committee.

I testified in support of HB 602, by Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin), which calls for a two-year waiting period after leaving office before a Texas legislator can do work as a lobbyist. Here’s an excerpt of my prepared testimony:

We support Rep. Donna Howard’s bill as a step in the right direction, toward restoring the public’s faith that their elected officials will serve the interests of their constitutents rather than those of big money.

In the early 1990s, ethics reforms passed by the Texas Legislature placed important limits on the activities permitted by lobbyists and their clients. But they left the revolving door open, and it remains wide open today, tempting some public officials to put the priorities of potential high-paying employers ahead of those of their constituents.

Texas has eight lobbyists per state lawmaker, more than most states, and it ranks second only to California in the total value of lobbying contracts. Currently, 70 former Texas lawmakers are registered as lobbyists—the highest number in the nation, according to a study conducted last year by the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C.

I want to give a local example: Here in Austin, not long ago, constituents of a former state rep. were outraged when he resigned from the job they had elected them to do—represent them—in order to go immediately to work as a lobbyist. Many people naturally wondered, “Was he in office just to develop the knowledge, contacts, and skills that would help him advance private interests?” That may not have been his motive at all, but the fact that he was allowed to do so served to further erode public trust in government.

We understand that it is very possible to represent the public interest as a lobbyist, and of course that is what many fine legislators choose to do both in and out of office, and it is what we at TCAN seek to do in our own advocacy efforts. But we know that a two-year “cooling-off period” would help improve both public perceptions and the reality of our public servants’ integrity.

More than half of the states already have laws requiring waiting periods between lawmaking and lobbying. It’s time for Texas lawmakers to muster the courage to do the same, and we applaud Rep. Howard for stepping up and issuing this challenge to her colleagues in the Legislature. We would also be supportive of a committee substitute or amendment that would extend the same restrictions to other public officials.

This bill, too, was left pending in committee. Sign up for TCAN action alerts to find out how you can speak out in support of these clean government bills.