Editorial: End secrecy surrounding inaugural fundraising
Express-News Editorial Board
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during his inauguration ceremony, in Austin, in 2019. How inauguration funds are spent shouldn’t be a state secret.Eric Gay /Associated Press
It shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit to find out how the 2019 Texas Inaugural Committee spent a record-setting $5.3 million in donations it raised after Gov. Greg Abbott’s re-election.
The inaugural committee is appointed by the governor and lieutenant governor. The money it raises and spends should be part of the public record and open for review.
Yes, the money raised for inaugural activities comes from private donors. But that money pays for festivities to celebrate newly re-elected state officials. Details about the funds should be considered public information and treated like campaign expense reports, which are available online.
$1.7M for George Strait, six-figure bonuses: Months later, a lawsuit forced Texas to release details on inaugural spending
Source: Texas Tribune
and last updated 2020-12-21 11:46:27-05 By Shannon Najmabadi, The Texas Tribune, and Jay Root, Houston Chronicle
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To celebrate Gov. Greg Abbottâs reelection last year, his inaugural committee paid a whopping $1.7 million to hire country crooner George Strait and his band. A coterie of top political aides and staff got more than $1 million, some of it paid out in six-figure bonuses. And a handful of lucky charities received $800,000 in unspent money.
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Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
To celebrate Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection last year, his inaugural committee paid a whopping $1.7 million to hire country crooner George Strait and his band. A coterie of top political aides and staff got more than $1 million, some of it paid out in six-figure bonuses. And a handful of lucky charities received $800,000 in unspent money.
Left out of that tally: the $116,000 taxpayers spent to keep all those inaugural expenditures secret.
Abbott and the 2019 Texas Inaugural Committee spent months fighting the disclosure of documents detailing how they spent a record-setting $5.3 million that event organizers raised mostly from corporations and wealthy donors.
ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Abbott s inaugural panel should be more transparent beaumontenterprise.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from beaumontenterprise.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.