April 16, 2005, 9:45AM
Report: Lobbyists asked for funds by Perry aide
Associated Press
AUSTIN — About a dozen business lobbyists were called to a private club by a top governor's aide and asked to pay $1.2 million for an advertising campaign to support restructuring of the state's tax and school finance systems, a newspaper reported.
Deirdre Delisi, Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff, asked the lobbyists to report back next week on whether their clients would contribute money, The Dallas Morning News reported in today's editions. The newspaper cited accounts by two people who were in the meeting but spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Delisi acknowledged "preliminary discussions" with "several representatives of employers and job creators" about an ad campaign.
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Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen of Texas, an ethics watchdog group, said raising corporate money for issue ads is "entirely legal, but we question whether it's the right thing to do. They appear to be planning a massive advertising campaign to persuade Texans to support property tax relief that only benefits a few."
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