Lobbyists, local officials, Rep. Truitt desperate

Rep. Vicki Truitt and Sen. John Carona are desperate. It appears they don't have local support from taxpayers for their so-called "local option" transportation tax.

It didn't pass, so the provisions were tacked onto the Texas Department of Transportation Sunset legislation. A bold move as most House members voted NOT to include it in the bill.

The local-option tax would be a tax increase. Have we ever seen local officials have taxing authority they didn't use? And if voters vote it down, local officials will continue to put it on the ballot until it passes. We've seen that with school bond initiatives.

These local officials have spent literally millions of dollars on lobbyists to promote this new taxing authority. So, taxpayers, congratulations. You are funding those high-priced lobbyists to promote a new tax -- taxing YOU. The lobby firm representative said it was a "classic lobby deal." So much for taxpayers' interests. If this were something taxpayers wanted, these officials wouldn't need this high-priced lobby firm.

Yesterday, the bill sponsors sent out a frantic email asking local officials and chamber of commerce folks to show up for a press conference on the south steps of the Capitol today. And Rep. Truitt provided her local leaders with phone numbers of representatives to call to encourage them to vote for the bill. That's highly unusual.

This rally/press conference will be in stark contrast to the recent tea parties held across the state in which on April 15 around 100,000 Texans turned out saying "no" to new taxes.

Americans for Prosperity-Texas opposes the new taxing authority as does Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, the NFIB-Texas and other taxpayer-friendly groups.

What is our answer to gridlock? End the gas tax diversions, set spending priorities at the local level, and stop using our money to fund lobbyists (who lobby against taxpayer protections.)

It might be useful to point out that these same local officials who want this tax have lobbyed against taxpayer protections such as an automatic rollback vote when local entities take in more 8% or more in property taxes due to appraisal increases. These local officials don't want taxpayers to be able to LOWER their taxes, but want the ability to put tax INCREASES on the ballot at will.

This classic lobby deal deserves a smack-down. Taxpayers will be rallying at the Capitol to say "NO" to this new tax.