Fred Hill's lobby contracts "don't pass the smell test"

According to this article on TexasWatchdog.org, State-Rep-Turned-Lobbyist Fred Hill is raking in taxpayer dollars from major Texas cities and state associations listed on his ever-growing client roster.

Hill may have left the legislature in early January, but he still has clout. And he’s still being paid with Texans’ tax dollars.

That’s because he’s the latest lawmaker to go through Capitol Hill’s revolving door and become a lobbyist. Hill is now representing a handful of north Texas city and town governments in Austin this year, work for which he would be paid between $395,000-$699,990 this year. Also among his clients are the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system and two local government groups who collect dues from their member local governments.

There should be a cooling off period, so-to-speak, for legislators before they take the jump into a lucrative lobbying career. But Hill apparently jumped at the chance to lobby while he was still a State Representative!

Hill began thinking about a lobbying job in the months before he left the legislature. He announced around the middle of last year that he wouldn’t seek re-election. He registered his firm, a limited liability corporation called Solutions for Local Control, with the Secretary of State’s office on Nov. 20, records show.

In most cases, lawmakers don’t start lobbying duties until their replacement is sworn in. This year, that would have been Jan. 13. But by Jan. 3, the former chairman of the House Local Government Ways and Means Committee was asking for business from local governments.

That’s OK, according to Hill — he says he formally resigned via letter to the governor on Jan. 2.

“This doesn’t pass the smell test,” said Peggy Venable, who leads the Texas branch of Americans For Prosperity, a fiscally conservative taxpayer watchdog. “When did he stop being a representative for his constituents and start being a representative for his lobbying interests?”

Here's an interesting kicker:

Hill says he’s not a lobbyist in the traditional sense. He’s signed on to work for local governments because he believes in fighting for taxpayers and for local control.

The truth is, Hill has never been a friend to taxpayers. He began the fight for more local government growth while still in office, and now he's taking our tax dollars to fight for even more tax dollars to spur local government growth and spending.