House moves to rein in Paxton’s spending
The Texas House moved Thursday to rein in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s spending on outside attorneys that are costing taxpayers up to $3,800 an hour.
A state budget amendment brought Thursday by Rep. Jessica González, D-Dallas, caps the amount that Paxton’s office can pay for outside legal expenses at $500 an hour. The amendment passed the House 73-64.
The House version of the budget, once finalized, will still need to be reconciled with the Senate’s version.
The amendments come after a tumultuous year for the office in which eight of Paxton’s top aides accused him of abuse of office and accepting bribes from a friend of his, Austin-based investor Nate Paul. The FBI is investigating.
Paxton, a Republican who has also been awaiting trial in a felony securities fraud case against him since 2015, has denied all wrongdoing. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Paxton found himself in hot water with Texas lawmakers this budgeting cycle after he requested more than $43 million for an antitrust lawsuit he launched against Google and hired attorneys at a rate that could cost the state as much as $3,780 an hour for the most senior attorneys, according to their contract. González, who is an attorney, said her bill is aimed at avoiding such costs in the future.
“Think about all the good we could do with that money,” she said. “How many lives could we improve by spending this money on public education or health care? While our indicted attorney general is dealing with scandal in his own agency, we as legislators need to ensure our constituents' tax dollars are being used to help people, and not being wasted on exorbitant legal fees.”
During a tense hearing in February, the Texas Senate’s Finance Committee chastised Paxton for his spending on outside counsel in that suit. Paxton had argued that the lawyers were necessary because the case involves a specialized area of law, and the body
ultimately did not slash his budget.
Another successful budget amendment , by Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, compels the attorney general’s office to submit a quarterly report to Texas House and Senate budget committees on the amount of money it spends on election or voting-related litigation. Beckley said her goal is to have transparency from the office.
Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand
Prairie, who is the Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair, had also brought an amendment that would bar the attorney general from contesting election results outside the state in reference to Paxton’s suit in December at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging President Joe Biden’s win in four battleground states.
Turner said the suit, which was almost immediately rejected, played a role in the misinformation that prompted the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“People were deceived. This lawsuit was a part of that deception,” Turner said. “It is a tragedy
in our nation’s history … I hope this Legislature is clear that this can never be allowed to happen ever again.”
While Rep. Yvonne Davis, DDallas, had pushed Turner to bring the measure to a vote, so members had to put their opinion on the record, Turner said it was meant to be symbolic and that he had already promised to withdraw it, as other House members did in order to save time during Thursday’s marathon budget meeting.