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Which telecom companies are pulling the strings in your state government? Find out which telecommunications companies are spending the most on lobbying and campaign contributions. Learn about your public utility boards, where they are located and how to file a complaint. Also, view the personal financial disclosure statements of board members and learn how much they earn.

Public Utility Commission of Texas
1701 N. Congress Avenue
PO Box 13326
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 936-7000

How to file a complaint
Online

Jurisdiction: electric and telecom
Funding: assessment on public utilities' gross receipts
Commissioners: 3
  Appointed by: Governor
  Term: 6 years
  Annual Salary: $109,200
Chairperson: Appointed by Governor
  Term: 2004-
  Annual Salary: $111,800
Commissioners

Paul Hudson (Chair)
Term: 2003-2009
Financial Disclosure:  2003 

Julie Parsley
Term: 2002-2011
Financial Disclosure:  2002  2004 

Barry Smitherman
Term: 2004-2007
Financial Disclosure:  2004 

Texas Receives B for Disclosure of Utility Commissioner Outside Ties
Texas ranked 2nd in the nation for making basic information on state legislators' income, assets and potential conflicts of interest available to the public. Texas received 85 out of a possible 100 points.
See Report Card

Texas Conflict-of-Interest Provision: "A person is not eligible for appointment as a commissioner if the person: at any time during the two years preceding appointment: (A) personally served as an officer, director, owner, employee, partner, or legal representative of a public utility, affiliate, or direct competitor of a public utility; or (B) owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, stocks or bonds of any class with a value of $10,000 or more in a public utility, affiliate, or direct competitor of a public Utility …." (Texas Utilities Code § 12.053(b)(1))


Telecommunications Industry

State Campaign Donations

Telecommunications industry donations, including legislative and statewide, throughout three election cycles, 1999-2000, 2001-2002 and 2003-2004. Click on total to see how this state stacks up:
Cycle Amount
2003-2004 $1,625,037
2001-2002 $2,187,991
1999-2000 $1,126,475
Total $4,939,503

Telecommunications interests donating $10,000 or more to state races, including legislative and statewide, throughout six years, from 1999 to 2004:
Name Total
SBC Communications Inc. $2,355,131
AT&T Corp. $529,883
Verizon Communications Inc. $475,947
Telephone Electronics Corp. $460,000
MCI (formerly WorldCom Inc.) $166,900
Grande Communications $113,750
Sprint Corp. $108,191
National Cable and Telecom. Assn. and state orgs. $92,913
Carl Westcott $70,000
Motorola Inc. $64,050

Source: Institute on Money in State Politics, with analysis by Center for Public Integrity

State Lobby Spending

Lobbyists report salary as a range; for this analysis the low end of the salary income range was added to expense total.

State-level lobbying by telecommunications companies in 2003 and 2004. Click on the total to see how the states stack up:
Year Amount
2003 $7,106,064
2004 $6,867,823
Total $13,973,887

Major telecommunications interests lobbying government in this state in 2003 and 2004:
Name Total
SBC Communications Inc. $7,952,940
Verizon Communications Inc. $1,499,876
AT&T Corp. $1,224,372
National Cable and Telecom. Assn. and state orgs $748,764
US Telecom. Assn. and state orgs. $449,462
MCI (formerly WorldCom Inc.) $440,771
VALOR Telecommunications $351,430
Sprint Corp. $305,549
Intrado Inc. $235,000
Time Warner $179,287

Source: Source: Center for Public Integrity analysis of state records