Celina city manager: 'Cities have almost no influence' regarding lobbying in Austin

The city of Celina paid nearly $500,000 to the Texas Municipal League in 2020, but the organization's website says those fees do not go toward funding lobbying efforts that the vast majority of Texans oppose.

The growing city in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex paid $493,469.60 to belong to the league's intergovernmental risk pool, according to Robin Bromiley, the city’s finance director. The figure is unaudited, she said.

That fund provides insurance for general liability, vehicles and workers’ compensation.

The city has budgeted $387,015.72 for 2021, Bromiley said in an email response to questions from Collin Times. It spent $338,654.52 with the league in 2018, she said.

Bromiley did not reply to most specific questions, and efforts to reach her by phone to clarify the information were unsuccessful.

A question about league member fees was met with this response: “TML member services fees are not used for advocacy and need not be included in the Texas Local Government Code Section 140.0045,” Bromiley said.

That section of state law mandates that most governments must itemize “certain expenditures,” including all that are intended to “directly or indirectly influencing or attempting to influence the outcome of legislation or administrative action, as those terms are defined in Section 305.002, Government Code.”

City Manager Jason Laumer said the city had almost no involvement in lobbying.

“I do not know off the top of my head the amount," he told Collin Times. "I know the city uses part of the services of TML, a newsletter, to be aware of bills that may have an affect on the city in regards to multiple potential state bills that could affect budgeting, contracts, planning, land uses, personnel polices, etc. I think its helpful to be aware of the issues discussed at the state Legislature. It’s very little compared to the overall lobbying done at the state capital so I think cities have almost no influence.”

Celina certainly wants a voice in how Texas is governed. Its population is estimated at 18,000, according to the city website, almost double what it was a decade ago with high hopes for a much larger number of residents.

”This pace makes Celina one of the fastest-growing cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex,” the website states. “Situated in high-growth Collin County and nestled between the major arteries of Preston Road to the east and the future Dallas North Tollway to the west, Celina’s maximum projected buildout population is approximately 350,000. In other words, Celina is positioned geographically, demographically and economically to quickly become a big player in the North Texas metropolitan community.”

The city’s median household income is $92,000, and the average home is valued at $429,705. Laumer was hired as city manager in 2017. Prior to that he served as development services director in Little Elm, giving him extensive experience in Texas municipal government matters.

State Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville), who has been working to end the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying in Texas, provided some clarification on the matter.

“Some of the taxpayer-funded lobbyist entries like TML and Texas Administrative Code sell risk pool insurance to counties and cities. This is essentially single-bid, no-bid insurance,” he told Collin Times. “TAC pays for their lobbyists out of their overpriced insurance, TML is claiming they do not.”

Middleton, recently elected to a second term to represent the 23rd House District, said it’s clear most Lone Star State residents don’t want to pay for lobbyists who argue against measures they support.

“Taxpayer-funded lobbyists have opposed property tax relief, election integrity, disclosures of what bonds truly cost taxpayers, the constitutional ban on a state income tax, and they even opposed the bill to fund and protect our teacher’s retirement pensions,” Middleton told East Houston News this month.

He said municipal governments, counties and school districts spend $41 million annually on such efforts, despite a reliable poll showing 88% of Texans oppose it.

“Government – especially local governments in Texas – has no business handing millions of taxpayer dollars over to lobbyists,” Chuck DeVore, vice president of national initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in a May 22 release. “Those are critical funds that should be used for education, public safety, property tax relief or other priorities that benefit taxpayers directly. It is time to end taxpayer-funded lobbying in Texas to ensure taxpayers are not footing the bill for special interests in Austin.”

While the bare-bones response from Celina is hardly ideal, it’s better than what some government entities do when asked. Middleton sent 6,000 letters to every city and town, county and school district in the state, asking how much they spend on lobbying.

The Austin Independent School District replied to the letter from a state lawmaker by saying it had no documents to share with him.

“Austin ISD maintains no documents responsive to your records request for line items in the adopted 2021 budget showing any planned expenses for directly or indirectly attempting to influence legislation,” stated an email from Melissa Sabatino, the district’s administrative supervisor of public information. “AISD does not hire lobbyists.” 

Middleton said that is not true.

“We have some of the big taxing entities lying about not having lobbyists,” he said.

Middleton has no intention of ending his battle. On Dec. 7, he filed House Bill 749 to end the practice.

The bill states: “A political subdivision may not spend public funds to hire an individual required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 for the purpose of lobbying a member of the legislature or to pay a nonprofit state association or organization that [either] primarily represents political subdivisions [or] hires or contracts with an individual required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305.”

He has the backing of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and new House Speaker Dade Phelan also supports the bill. Phelan, a Republican from Beaumont, supported Middleton’s efforts during the last session. It was defeated 85-58.

During the 2020 session, the Texas Senate approved a bill by a vote of 19-12 to end the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, and senators have renewed the effort in advance of this session. They held a hearing Dec. 8 and state Sen. Bob Hall, a Republican who represents Senate District 2, filed a bill that day that matches Middleton’s proposed law.

“It is time to stop diverting local money away from police, firefighters, teachers’ pay, and infrastructure improvements like roads to line the pockets of Austin lobbyists,” Hall said at the hearing.