AUSTIN, Texas — Some Texas House members loudly objected Monday to a proposal that would abolish a state lobby agency that represents Texas interests in Washington and give that power to Gov. Rick Perry's office.
There was so much bipartisan uproar over the bill — which earlier won bipartisan support in a House committee — that lawmakers called off a vote on the measure so they could keep working on it and address the criticism.
Under the proposal, the Office of State-Federal Relations would be abolished as an independent agency. Its duties and funding would be placed within the governor's office, a recommendation of the Sunset Advisory Commission. The agency is up for "sunset" review, meaning it will be abolished in September unless the Legislature decides to continue it.
Not going to be an important issue in a year, but posting it for the "inside baseball" crowd.
Not important for the campaign, per se, but definitely an issue that needs to be addressed. We're basically talking about taxpayer-funded lobbying. This is the first I've heard of the controversy - thanks for giving us "inside baseball" like this.
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