Burnt Orange Report

What will $50,000 buy?

By Byron LaMasters

While it is illegal to fundraise during the regular session, there is no law prohibiting fundraising during a special session. Only this session was a law signed that prohibits fundraising during the twenty days following the regular session, during which the governor has a chance to review bills to sign or veto (this law of course was inspired by the 2001 session where Rick Perry took tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars from special interests, and returned the favor to those interests by vetoing unfavorable bills). Anyway, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has an offer for all you folks out there willing to spend $50,000. The Dallas Morning News reports:

For $50,000, a political contributor to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst gets to visit his Hill Country ranch. A donation of $25,000 buys an invitation for two to a holiday reception in Austin.

The legislative session is barely over, another one is about to begin, and campaign fund raising is in full swing. Mr. Dewhurst has an Austin fund-raising reception scheduled for Monday, the first day lawmakers return to the Capitol for a special session on congressional redistricting.

Texas law prohibits statewide office holders and legislators from collecting donations during the regular session, but it's legal to accept them during a special session. The special session that starts Monday will be the state's first since 1992.

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Invitations sent by the David Dewhurst Committee promote joining the "Dewhurst Council" for donations ranging from $1,000 to $50,000.

A $50,000 donation earns the title "chairman," with a visit to the lieutenant governor's Snaffle Bit ranch near Fredericksburg, an invitation to the holiday reception and biannual meetings in Austin.

"Wow," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, Texas director of the campaign finance watchdog group Public Citizen. "I don't ever recall seeing a [solicitation] that high before."

The state should ban fund raising during special sessions, Mr. Smith said.

"The implication is always there that if you contribute during a legislative session, it will influence the way they vote or the actions they might take," Mr. Smith said. "That's why we don't allow fund raising when the Legislature is in a regular session."

Chuck Anderson, a spokesman for the David Dewhurst Committee, said the timing of the Dewhurst event was a coincidence. The reception was scheduled weeks before Gov. Rick Perry called for the special session.