In session and out, lobbying is by far the biggest source of money in Texas politics. Taxpayers foot a sizable chunk of the bill, accounting for as much as $110 million (over 16 percent of the total reported lobbying money) during the 2020 election cycle time period. Another $70,429,959 (also around 16 percent of the total) has spent using taxpayer dollars in the 2021 so far.

A big part of our mission at Transparency USA is to help citizens understand how money in politics really works. To that end, we are starting a new series exposing some of the most popular myths surrounding money in politics.