Former state Rep. Chris Paddie, R-Marshall, was fined $105,500 for violating a revolving door lobbying law designed to prevent legislators from becoming lobbyists immediately after leaving office, according to an order from the Texas Ethics Commission.
A state law passed in 2019 forbids former elected officials from registering as lobbyists if they contributed money to officeholders less than two years before their registration. Paddie, who decided not to seek reelection in 2021, contributed $54,000 to House representatives and candidates late that year while he was still in office before registering as a lobbyist in May 2022, according to the ethics commission report.
“This suggests intent to cultivate or maintain influence with the Legislature in advance of his retirement, which is what the statute was intended to prohibit,” the ethics commission’s order said of the $54,000 in donations.
