For the 2020 election cycle (2019 – 2020), more than $109 million in taxpayer dollars was being spent to lobby Austin politicians. With our Lobbying Data feature, Texans can see which organizations hired lobbyists, who they hired, and how much they spent. In addition to pulling back the curtain on lobbying — the largest source …

To find some of the most influential people in Austin, look no further than the lobbyists employed by hundreds of entities across the state of Texas. The highest paid lobbyists in Texas politics are hired by organizations willing to spend significant resources persuading lawmakers to support legislation that is favorable to their interests.  The phrase …

With the 87th session of the Texas Legislature rapidly approaching in January, multiple reports have taken note of a new player looking to roll the dice on influencing Texas politics – the casino industry.  According to our data, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson took his place as a top ten donor in Texas state political contributions …

Lobbying is big business Lobbying is one of the most common activities in government. Hundreds of corporations, organizations, and governmental entities hire lobbyists to persuade legislators on issues as wide-ranging as agriculture to healthcare. So far this election cycle, more than $640 million has been committed to lobbying in Texas — that’s twice as much …

Last week, Texas campaign finance reports were released. We’ve cleaned up the data and made it easy to search, so you can see for yourself who’s giving and who’s getting in Texas politics. Here are three surprising headlines to get you started:  Lobbying Dwarfs Everything.  TWICE as much money has been spent on lobbying as …