PA Has a Budget Deficit. So Why Are Taxpayers Funding Lobbyists?

Should Pennsylvania taxpayers fund political lobbying efforts for taxpayer-funded organizations lobbying for more taxpayer funds? Not only is this practice misguided, but it’s also fundamentally wrong, blurring the line between public service and self-serving advocacy at the taxpayer’s expense.

Unfortunately, such behavior is the status quo, especially in Harrisburg.

Case in point: House Majority Leader Matt Bradford. In addition to his daytime job as an elected lawmaker, Bradford also works as a lawyer who represents several school districts. When he votes to increase spending on public education (despite Pennsylvania spending more than most states), he also votes in his own interest.

I don’t follow that logic. Whose team is Bradford on? Surely not the same one as Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Whatever team it is, government unions are on the roster. Bradford has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Meanwhile, these public sector unions not only lobby for more taxpayer funding but also leverage publicly funded resources, such as the state payroll system, to conduct business.

And these two forces – Bradford and government unions – frequently conspire against desperately needed education reform. The Lifeline Scholarships Program, or the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS), is a current legislative proposal to provide scholarships to students attending the commonwealth’s lowest-achieving schools. In 2023, PASS/Lifeline Scholarships were primed to become law.

But Bradford, the PSEA, and several other teacher unions mobilized to eliminate this transformative program, influencing Gov. Josh Shapiro to veto it from the budget. Rather than keep his promise and support the best interests of Pennsylvania’s children, Shapiro caved to the pressure of the special interests.

Unfortunately, this attack on education reform doesn’t stop there.

Other publicly funded entities, such as the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA), also stand in the way of educational choice. The PBSA is the largest association claiming to represent the interests of school boards statewide. One such interest: cutting funding for cyber charters and demanding that lawmakers adhere to “the principle of efficiently using limited public education resources.”

This is a rich claim coming from an organization that employs a 50-person team, including a chief executive who takes in almost $500,000 in annual salary and benefits – all at taxpayers’ expense. And this sizable organization notoriously strong-arms school districts into paying millions in annual membership dues. 

Sadly, this avarice isn’t limited to education.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) also perpetuates this vicious cycle. SEPTA claims to be broke, threatening massive service cuts unless the agency can procure state funding. Yet, the agency has still managed to spend millions on retainer fees for lobbyists. And what are these lobbyists advocating for? Why, none other than a multimillion-dollar bailout for SEPTA.

This downward spiral of taxpayer-funded lobbying must stop – but how?

Fortunately, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has a few bills to address this issue.

Pennsylvania Senate Republicans have reintroduced legislation that prohibits Pennsylvania entities from using taxpayer funds for lobbying, introduced another bill that would limit lobbying by local government, and proposed a similar bill restricting lobbying by state agencies.

Ironically, many organizations, including some mentioned in this article, have lobbied heavily against these commonsense reforms.

This taxpayer-funded lobbying misuses scarce and precious public resources, undermines accountability, and must end. At a time when lawmakers are stuck in a budget stalemate and addressing a budget deficit, allowing publicly funded entities to use taxpayer dollars to lobby for even more money is a blatant conflict of interest. It abuses the democratic process, drains limited resources, and erodes the public trust. Taxpayers deserve transparency and fiscal responsibility – not a system where lobbyists weaponize their own money to demand more from an already strained budget.

The good people of Pennsylvania deserve a budget that prioritizes students and taxpayers, not one that lines the pockets of lobbyists.

Megan Martin, a former state Senate parliamentarian, is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank.