As 2306 students will learn, the Texas legislators are paid very little - $600 per month. And they only meet for 140 days in the year following following each election. They are allowed to continue to hold outside employment.
This is to ensure that the legislature is composed of "citizen legislators." That may be, but it also guarantees that only people who can afford to spend time away from work are able to serve. It also means that people with outside interests can vote to support those interests.
This appears to be an example.
The story is from 2021.
- Click here for the article.
Before state Rep. Gary Gates was elected to the Texas House, the Republican real estate executive launched a petition drive to disband the Southwest Management District, one of 39 special districts across Houston that collect taxes from commercial property owners to fund extra police patrols, sidewalk improvements and other hyper-local services.
Gates, who also has taken aim at a management district in the Hobby area where he owns apartment properties, has continued his efforts to dissolve the special districts since taking office early last year. In January, he filed a bill that would make it easier to dissolve most management districts, including the two he has targeted, then weeks later circulated petition forms to business owners in the Sharpstown area.
Under state law, a management district must disband if its board receives dissolution petitions from property owners who own at least two-thirds of the district’s assessed property value. Gates’ legislation, House Bill 1219, would lower the threshold from 67 to 55 percent for districts created before September 2017, meaning it would apply to the Hobby Area District and Southwest Management District that Gates has sought to dissolve.
The bill passed out of the House Committee on Urban Affairs last week.
Houston Councilman Robert Gallegos, whose council district includes the Hobby Area District, has urged lawmakers to reject the bill and, in written testimony to the Urban Affairs Committee, highlighted the convergence of Gates’ roles as a property management owner and state representative.
“House Bill 1219 is misguided at best and may present a potentially serious conflict of interest at worst,” Gallegos wrote.
Gates, R-Richmond, acknowledged his business stands to benefit from the legislation, but he insisted the bill is needed because the current threshold to disband management districts is too high. Property owners often are reluctant to sign petitions because they fear retaliation from the district board or are board members themselves, Gates said, adding that many property owners are difficult to track down because they live in other states or countries, or are large multinational corporations that have little desire to meddle in local politics.
- Click here for the House Bill 1219.
- Overview of Municipal Management Districts.
- Southwest Management District.
- City of Houston Boards and Commissions: Southwest Management District.
- Texas House: Gary Gates.
- Wikipedia: Gary Gates.
- Texas Tribune: Gary Gates.
- Wikipedia: Texas Real Estate Commission.
- Transparency USA: Texas Association of Realtors.
