WHEREAS, voters in cities across Texas will elect mayors, city councilmembers, and city commissioners on uniform election dates; and
WHEREAS, though elections are nonpartisan, many candidates running for these positions identify themselves as Republicans; and
WHEREAS, the offices these candidates are running for control the budgets and legislative agendas for their municipal governmental entities; and
WHEREAS, county Republican parties across Texas and the Republican Party of Texas have taken a more proactive role in recent years in getting conservative Republicans elected to local offices; and
WHEREAS, ending taxpayer-funded lobbying was one of the 15 Legislative Priorities put forward to delegates at the 2022 Republican Party of Texas Convention in Houston; and
WHEREAS, the Republican Party of Texas Platform calls for an end to taxpayer-funded lobbying in Plank 232:
232. Tax-Funded Lobbying: We oppose using tax dollars to hire lobbyists or paying tax
dollars to associations that lobby the Legislature; and
WHEREAS, last year, taxpayer-funded entities in Texas spent upwards of $145 million on lobbying fees and services, according to Transparency USA; and
WHEREAS, Republican Senator Mayes Middleton has introduced legislation to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying; and
WHEREAS, fiscal conservatism is a core pillar of the Republican Party, and banning taxpayer-funded lobbying is undoubtedly the fiscally conservative position on this issue; and
WHEREAS, while some candidates might prefer to avoid discussing this issue, local taxpayers deserve to know whether their candidates support spending their money on the salaries of lobbyists, in contradiction to the state party platform; now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the State Republican Executive Committee calls on all candidates running for municipal offices to take a strong public stance in support of banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, and to pledge to vote against using tax dollars to fund lobbying fees and services in their own cities if elected.
