Sep 14, 2026 · 5 min · 3 segments
Throughout the last several sessions, certain legislators have continued their efforts to prohibit local officials and their nonprofit associations from communicating with the Texas Legislature. The…
Throughout the last several legislative sessions, certain legislators have continued their efforts to obtain laws to prohibit local officials and their nonprofit associations from communicating with the Texas Legislature.
The County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas has passed a resolution voicing its opposition to this proposed prohibition.
According to Senior General Counsel Jim Allison, this legislation would bar local officials from spending money to contact the legislature or support nonprofit associations that communicate on their behalf.
This misguided proposal would silence the voice of local officials while increasing the influence of special interest groups.
CJCAT Legislative Chairman Ben Zeller, who serves as Victoria County Judge, offered the following perspective.
"Rural communities and smaller counties across Texas would be disproportionately harmed by a misguided ban on so-called taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Such a restriction would undermine the basic principles of democracy, transparency, and open government by effectively excluding local communities from the legislative process while elites and deep-pocketed special interests continue spending millions to influence state policy," Zeller said.
With complex and often competing issues such as data center development, water resources, infrastructure, and local control now at the forefront, counties must have access to experienced legislative professionals.
These experts help local officials analyze proposed legislation, communicate its real-world consequences, and protect the taxpayers and communities we serve.
"Removing that expertise would not reduce the influence of other lobbyists," Zeller said.
"Rather, removing that expertise would silence local governments while leaving well-funded private interests free to dominate the conversation even more than they already do." In matters involving data centers and other large-scale developments, denying counties access to qualified professionals could expose local taxpayers to serious legal, financial, environmental, and operational risks.
Judge Zeller and the association's legislative team have created talking points on this important issue to help explain the problem to your lawmakers.
County officials are tasked with a multitude of state-mandated responsibilities.
Commissioners courts also develop, implement, and maintain optional quality-of-life services.
Approximately eight thousand bills are filed each session.
Extensive time is required to review proposed laws, analyze potential impact on counties, and estimate implementation costs.
Association lobbyists and legislative committees perform critical work, educating county officials on legislation that may benefit or harm communities and providing senators and representatives with essential information on the impact and costs of their proposed laws.
The majority of counties do not have the resources to employ staff dedicated solely to legislative matters.
Only by dividing the workload among the various associations do county officials have the expertise and manpower necessary to determine how proposed laws will affect each county office and the taxpayers.
Without these resources, county governments and the taxpayers would effectively be silenced in the lawmaking process, leaving counties at a significant disadvantage compared with private interests that have the means to maintain a full-time presence at the Capitol.
Throughout the last several legislative sessions, certain legislators have continued their efforts to obtain laws to prohibit local officials and their nonprofit associations from communicating with the Texas Legislature.
The County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas has passed a resolution voicing its opposition to this proposed prohibition.
According to Senior General Counsel Jim Allison, this legislation would bar local officials from spending money to contact the legislature or support nonprofit associations that communicate on their behalf.
This misguided proposal would silence the voice of local officials while increasing the influence of special interest groups.
CJCAT Legislative Chairman Ben Zeller, who serves as Victoria County Judge, offered the following perspective.
"Rural communities and smaller counties across Texas would be disproportionately harmed by a misguided ban on so-called taxpayer-funded lobbying.
Such a restriction would undermine the basic principles of democracy, transparency, and open government by effectively excluding local communities from the legislative process while elites and deep-pocketed special interests continue spending millions to influence state policy," Zeller said.
With complex and often competing issues such as data center development, water resources, infrastructure, and local control now at the forefront, counties must have access to experienced legislative professionals.
These experts help local officials analyze proposed legislation, communicate its real-world consequences, and protect the taxpayers and communities we serve.
"Removing that expertise would not reduce the influence of other lobbyists," Zeller said.
"Rather, removing that expertise would silence local governments while leaving well-funded private interests free to dominate the conversation even more than they already do." In matters involving data centers and other large-scale developments, denying counties access to qualified professionals could expose local taxpayers to serious legal, financial, environmental, and operational risks.
Judge Zeller and the association's legislative team have created talking points on this important issue to help explain the problem to your lawmakers.
County officials are tasked with a multitude of state-mandated responsibilities.
Commissioners courts also develop, implement, and maintain optional quality-of-life services.
Approximately eight thousand bills are filed each session.
Extensive time is required to review proposed laws, analyze potential impact on counties, and estimate implementation costs.
Association lobbyists and legislative committees perform critical work, educating county officials on legislation that may benefit or harm communities and providing senators and representatives with essential information on the impact and costs of their proposed laws.
The majority of counties do not have the resources to employ staff dedicated solely to legislative matters.
Only by dividing the workload among the various associations do county officials have the expertise and manpower necessary to determine how proposed laws will affect each county office and the taxpayers.
Without these resources, county governments and the taxpayers would effectively be silenced in the lawmaking process, leaving counties at a significant disadvantage compared with private interests that have the means to maintain a full-time presence at the Capitol.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
