[ Report Home | Previous Page | Next Page ] Austin’s Oldest Profession: Texas’ Top Lobby Clients & Those Who Service Them 2002 Edition II. Lobby Clients B. The Nation’s No. 2 State Lobby

Texas has the second largest state lobby in the nation after California. A recent Center for Public Integrity study analyzed the 49 states that report lobby data.¹  That study found that Texas ranked No. 2 in the nation behind California in the total number of registered lobby clients in 2000—when the Texas Legislature was not even in session.²  The Center study, which did not provide lobby expenditure data for Texas, found that California’s total lobby expenditures in 2000 (including lobbyist retainers and the money that lobbyists spent wining and dining government officials) was $180 million. By comparison, Texas Ethics Commission data reveal that in the off-session year of 2000 Texas lobby clients spent between $80 million and $185 million just on Texas lobby retainers alone.
 
 

Top Lobby States in 2000 State No. of Lobby Clients California  2,324 Texas 2,119 Florida 1,665 Illinois 1,594 Michigan 1,575 Source: Center for Public Integrity. Note that the Center's data differ from data reported elsewhere in this report for reasons explained in endnote No. 2.