Lobbying
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Lobbying
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North Richland Hills
City Government
A Report by Ron West
The council packet this week (5/9/05) contains an update endorsing the opposition of pending legislation in Austin that would disclose financial relationships and gifts from vendors to elected city officials and certain employees of the city. A synopsis of the bill provided to the council is:
HB914 Authored by: Beverly Woolley, R- District 136
Synopsis: Relating to disclosure of Certain business or financial relationships with certain local government officers; providing criminal penalties.
Explanation: Would require certain city officials, including city council members and city managers/administrators , to file a “conflicts disclosure statement” that describes: (1) the nature and extent of employment or other business relationships with an entity that may do business with the city; (1) gifts offered to or received by the local government official and any family member of the official during the previous year if the aggregate value of the gifts exceed $250; and (3) an acknowledgment from the official that the disclosure applies to each family member of the official under penalty of perjury. The bill would also: (1) authorize a city to extend the requirements to all or a groups of employees of the city; and (2) require vendors and other persons to complete a questionnaire describing interactions with the city and any affiliation with city officials that may cause a conflict of interest.
Last Action 3/30/2005: Referred to Senate State Affairs
Committee: (H) Urban Affairs (S) State Affairs
City Position: Oppose
It seems strange that our elected officials would state that our city is opposed to such legislation. Apparently we pay certain people to lobby for the "official" NRH positions that - again - we as citizens have no input to. In this particular case, if you are interested, you can write to any state official stating either your support or opposition to HB914 by clicking here http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ Both the Senate and the House are at the upper left of this page with links to all representatives and senators and provisions for sending emails.