

There appears to be no real accounting of the $5.3 million raised and spent for this year's inauguration of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The Texas Tribune asked for receipts, which would be a public record, and got none in response. And now the inaugural committee, a state government entity, is dissolved. 

On the upside, none of the $5.3 million was tax money.


It may be hard for you to see why you should worry about a bunch of rich, powerful people spending money on a celebration that didn't cost you a dime. But all of that money represents favor curried with your governor and lieutenant governor, the state's top two elected officials.

The governor sets the priorities for state government and the lieutenant governor controls the Senate side of state legislation. You'd want them in your back pocket if you could afford them, and your influence on them might be good for you but bad for most Texans.

Throwing a bunch of lavish parties and hiring George Strait as the musical entertainment is one sure way to get in these politicians' good graces.


Wouldn't you like to know. One way for the rest of us Texans to watchdog the influence on these two elected officials is to know exactly how the money for their inaugurations was spent — who was paid how much, and for what.


Good question. Here's the answer:

“We have conducted a thorough search. The 2019 Texas Inaugural Committee has no responsive records,” the group’s former executive director, Kim Snyder, who also happens to be Abbott’s campaign director, responded to the Tribune in an email.

The Tribune was given a breakdown of overall expenses that went like this: Inaugural ball and special events, $2,413,057; fundraising, $930,927; payroll, $898,865, and so on.


Imagine running a business and trying to know, if not control, how your business' money is being spent, and your CFO tells you $1 million was spent on "miscellaneous," with no further explanation and no documentation.

That's what's going on here. This is your state government. Do you trust it?

By the way, the inaugural committee listed a line item for "miscellaneous." It came to $21,644, in case you were in the market for miscellaneous and were wondering what it costs these days. But for this inauguration, everything might as well be considered miscellaneous.

State law requires the inaugural committee to maintain a record of its expenses, including who got paid, how much, on what date and for what purpose. If this committee did that, it had nothing to show the Texas Tribune for it. If you exercised your right to request that same information, that's the answer you'd get too.

So, it appears that your rights have been violated in the service of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. It'll be kind of hard to hold the committee accountable since Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs disbanded it Sept. 18.

If you feel outraged like we think you should feel, or at least a little bit irked, you'll have to aim your ire higher than the committee, at Abbott, Patrick and Hughs.

Read or Share this story: