Thoughts on Taxpayer Funded Lobbying

From Benjamin Hodge:

For the foreseeable future, because of reasons including higher unemployment and property values that either decrease or else increase at a smaller rate (which affects the total amount of taxes received by the government), you will hear government bodies at the local, state, and federal levels talk about having “tight budgets.” They may talk about the need to lay off some government workers, and they may talk about the need to raise taxes.

To address a balanced budget, one option that will not be voluntarily discussed by government officials is cutting what is known as taxpayer-funded lobbying. These lobbyists are paid well with our tax dollars, and they end up doing work that usually should be done by the elected officials, themselves — calling area legislators, testifying in favor or against legislation, learning about legislation, etc. Often, the positions that these government lobbyists take are in direct opposition to the opinions of the majority of voters.

I served in the Kansas House for one term (2006-2008). The 49th district included parts of Overland Park and Olathe. During those two years, I do not recall receiving one phone call or other form of personal communication in regard to legislation from a single elected member of any area local government (such as the cities of Overland Park and Olathe, or the school districts of Blue Valley and Olathe). If I did receive communication from a local government, it was from a lobbyist, and while I occasionally agreed with their opinions on legislation, I found their jobs to be offensive. Our tax dollars are paying the salaries of these lobbyists, their jobs are completely unnecessary, and their work is often ineffective; when their work is somewhat effective, they are fighting against the rights of citizens (open government, tax reform, private property rights, the rights of parents in making education decisions), in the name of “local control.”

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