Well, that's progress.
With Democrats poised to take control of Capitol Hill, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is ordering an evaluation of the state's contracts with two lobbying firms with close ties to congressional Republicans, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.The contracts have long been an irritant to Texas Democrats in Congress, who renewed their complaint Tuesday that it's a waste of taxpayer money - and a reward to well-connected Republican lobbyists - to do what legislators were sent to Washington to do.
"Texas House Democrats do not need - nor want - any assistance from private lobbyists to represent the state of Texas," the delegation's 11 Democrats wrote Perry, a Republican.
The letter, circulated by Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, also was signed by Nick Lampson, a Stafford Democrat who will fill a Houston-area seat come January.
Asked about the letter, Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said the governor would ask the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations to review the contracts with The Federalist Group and Cassidy & Associates, which receive monthly payments from the state of $10,000 and $15,000 respectively.
The lobbyists will be asked to "explain how they could and would work with the new Congress and what strategies they'd employ," she said.
Walt declined to predict the outcome of the review, saying it could conclude that no outside lobbyists are needed, that the contracts should continue, or that new lobbying firms should be hired.