The Texas Legislature

<p=”red”>Total expenditures by former House Speaker Tom Craddick from his campaign accounts Nov. 2006 to Jan. 2009:

$4.7 million [2]

<p=”red”>Money left in Craddick’s campaign accounts:

$2.8 million [3]

<p=”red”>Salary paid by Tom Craddick to his daughter, Christi Craddick, from Feb. 2003 to Oct. 2008:

$650,627 [4]

Number of registered lobbyists in 1997:

1,576 [5]

Number of registered lobbyists in 2007:

1,629 [6]

Maximum income earned by registered lobbyists in 1997:*

$151 million [7]

Maximum income earned by registered lobbyists in 2007:*

$348 million [8]

Minimum number of former lawmakers registered to lobby 2005-2008:

78 [9]

Maximum income earned by newly re-elected State Rep. Todd Hunter as a lobbyist 1998-2007:

$3,485,000 [10]

Days after stepping down as a state rep. in 1997 that Hunter registered as a lobbyist:

16 [11]

<p=”red”>Population of Texas in 1960:

9.6 million [12]

<p=”red”>Population of Texas in 2009:

24.6 million [13]

Budget of the state of Texas 1960-61:

$2.4 billion [14]

Budget 2008-09:

$168 billion [15]

<p=”blue”>Total number of bills filed in 1991:

4,524 [16]

<p=”blue”>Total number of bills filed in 2007:

6,190 [17]

Annual salary of legislators in 1960:

$4,800 [18]

Annual salary of legislators in 2009:

$7,200 [19]

<p=”blue”>Money raised by candidates for the Texas Legislature in 1998:

$33,382,971 [20]

<p=”blue”>Money raised by candidates for the Texas Legislature in 2006:

$87,057,028 [21]

Campaign money Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) has spent to have his Austin apartment cleaned since 2004:

$6,788 [22]

Campaign money state lawmakers spent on gifts manufactured by Texas prisoners 2006-2008:

$138,686 [23]

<p=”red”>Fines levied against state lawmakers by the Texas Ethics Commission in 2000:

$3,203 [24]

<p=”red”>Fines levied against state lawmakers by the Texas Ethics Commission in 2008:

$180,732 [25]

[30]

Top-selling items at Capitol gift shop during legislative sessions:

Antacids and breath mints [26]

Minimum number of cookies delivered to the Capitol by Tiff’s Treats on opening day:

900 [27]

<p=”red”>Percentage of income paid in state taxes by poorest 20 percent of Texas families:

12.8% [28]

<p=”red”>Percentage of income paid in state taxes by richest 20 percent of Texans:

4.7% [29]

Uninsured population of Texas:

5.83 million [31]

Rank, among U.S. states, if the uninsured population of Texas were a state:

19th [32]

<p=”red”>Percentage of Texans who believe Barack Obama is a Muslim:

23% [33]

<p=”red”>State senator who boycotted an invited prayer delivered in the Senate by a Muslim cleric in 2007:

Dan Patrick [34]

<p=”red”>Power of KSEV, the Houston-area talk radio station owned by Sen. Patrick:

15,000 watts [35]

Amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, emitted in Texas in 2005:

630 million metric tons [36]

Rank among nations in terms of carbon emissions if Texas were its own country:

8th [37]

<p=”red”>Number of people who voted in 2007 to create an 8-acre special freshwater district in the Panhandle benefiting T. Boone Pickens:

2 [38]

<p=”red”>Number of those voters who are employees of Pickens:

2 [39]

<p=”red”>Number of the new five-member water district that are employees of Pickens:

5 [40]

<p=”red”>Number of votes in the House for and against the legislation authorizing the water district election:

136-1 [41]

Annual revenue the state of Texas will likely earn initially from new private toll road SH 130:

$1 million [42]

Length of one lane of new highway that could be built with that revenue:

1,000 feet [43]

<p=”blue”>Highest academic degree achieved by Rep. Geanie Morrison, chairman of the House Higher Education Committee under Tom Craddick:

High school diploma [44]

<p=”blue”>Number of the 150 members of the House with a college degree:

133 [45]

Gift received by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) from his committee members in 2007:

Colt .38 Super handgun [46]

Minimum number of legislators with a concealed handgun license:

20 (17 Republicans & 3 Democrats) [47]

Number of members who carry weapons in the Legislature:

Unknown [48]

[49]

Compiled by Forrest Wilder with research assistance from Reeve Hamilton and Susan Peterson.

Sources

1.  Observer research 2.  Texas Ethics Commission 3.  Texas Ethics Commission 4.  Texas Ethics Commission 5.  Texans for Public Justice 6.  Texans for Public Justice 7.  Texans for Public Justice 8.  Texans for Public Justice 9.  Center for Public Integrity and Observer research. 10.  Texas Ethics Commission/Texans for Public Justice 11.  Texas Ethics Commission/Texans for Public Justice 12.  Texas Department of State Health Services 13.  Texas Department of State Health Services 14.  Texas Legislative Library 15.  Various sources 16.  Texas Legislative Library 17.  Texas Legislative Library 18. Texas Legislative Library 19. Texas Legislative Library 20.  Texans for Public Justice 21.  Texans for Public Justice 22.  Texas Ethics Commission/Observer research 23.  Texas Ethics Commission/Texans for Public Justice 24.  Research by John Cobarruvias 25.  Research by John Cobarruvias 26.  Capitol Gift Shop 27.  Tiff’s Treats 28.  Center for Public Policy Priorities 29.  Center for Public Policy Priorities 30.  Texas State Directory, Texas Legislature Online, Observer research 31.  Kaiser Family Foundation 32.  Observer research 33.  University of Texas at Austin, Texas Politics Project 34.  Austin American-Statesman

35.  Federal Communications Commission 36.  Newsweek 37.  Newsweek 38.  Various sources 39.  Various sources 40.  Various sources 41.  Texas Legislature Online42.  Austin American-Statesman43.  Austin American-Statesman 44.  Observer research 45.  Texas State Directory/Observer research 46.  Texas Watchdog47.  Houston Chronicle 48.  Houston Chronicle 49.  Center for Public Policy Priorities and Texans Care for Children