NEWS RELEASE _____________________________________________________________________________________ _ June 2, 2005                Contact: Peggy Venable or Maria Martinez (512) 476-5905                            Americans for Prosperity Members File Lawsuit Against                            Texas County for Using Taxpayer Dollars to Lobby For                            More Taxpayer Money AUSTIN – Several Texas members of the grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity today filed a lawsuit against Williamson County for violating a state law that prohibits using general revenue funds to join organizations that lobby the state legislature. Peggy Venable, Texas director of Americans for Prosperity, joined AFP members Janice Brauner and Judy Morris, all residents of Williamson County, in filing the lawsuit.  Americans for Prosperity has 22,000 members in Texas and supports measures that limit the growth of government spending and provide mechanisms for taxpayer approval for spending increases. The lawsuit asserts that Williamson County has used general revenue funds to support county associations, including the Texas Association of Counties (TAC).  TAC employs registered lobbyists and participates in lobbying activities. “Taxpayers should not be forced to finance lobbying activities.  Taxpayer-funded groups lobby for more of our tax dollars,” Venable said. “It is a vicious cycle, and it’s fiscally, morally and ethically wrong”. Texas Local Government Code statute 89.002 states that “The commissioners court may spend, in the name of the county, money from the county’s general fund for membership fees and dues of a nonprofit state association of the counties if...neither the association nor an employee of the association directly or indirectly influences or attempts to influence the outcome of any legislation pending before the legislature...” “We think it is very clear that the state law prohibits counties from using taxpayer dollars for lobbying,” Venable said.  “Though this action is against one county, we are aware this practice is widespread.  We will work to see that state law is upheld and we are also committed to eliminating public dollars from all lobbying activities.”   In the recent legislative session, county associations, funded with public dollars, opposed taxpayer protections that would have provided greater public accountability and transparency that would have helped end “taxation by valuation” and would have provided “truth in taxation”.  The county associations joined the cities’ lobby and opposed both appraisal and revenue caps.   Lobbying with taxpayer dollars costs Williamson county residents approximately a half million dollars in the past 10 years, Venable said.   AFP estimates that millions of public dollars are spent on lobbying in each session. One of our Founding Fathers found this practice objectionable.  Thomas Jefferson said, “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Attorneys representing the plaintiffs are David Rogers and former Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith, Texas Legal Foundation.   "The Texas Legal Foundation is pleased to represent the plaintiffs in this case because we believe in the principles of government accountability, limited government spending, the rule of law, and representation of the people through their elected representatives," Smith said.  "We believe that all these principles are endangered when taxpayers are illegally taxed in order to pay lobbyists to persuade the Legislature to raise taxes." “We need more public officials like Cheryl Johnson, County Tax Assessor and Collector for Galveston County, who said that the county associations’ responsibility should be to educate and assist the counties and not to lobby,” said Venable.   “This is an unusual action for AFP and represents the first lawsuit we have been involved in,” Venable said.  “But we wanted this to be a wake-up call to taxpayers and to elected officials that taxpayer money should not be used for lobbying.” Venable also cited other taxpayer-funded lobbying activities, though not in violation of state law, as inappropriate use of tax dollars.  She cited the City of Austin as having 26 lobbyists listed with the Texas Ethics Commission; the City of Houston has 23; Dallas Independent School District has eight, the Texas Municipal League has 14 and the Texas Association of Counties has nine lobbyists.  In comparison, the Texas Association of Business – essentially the state chamber of commerce – has only five lobbyists.   Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org