Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying: Government Lobbying Government

Economy | February 27, 2013

By David Stokes | Read Time 1 minute

Most lobbyists who vie for tax dollars are privately funded. But some public entities — cities, public employee groups and others — hire lobbyists using taxpayer dollars, in order to lobby higher levels of government for even more tax dollars. Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst David Stokes discusses the concept briefly in this video, and at length in a recent paper.

About the Author

David Stokes

David Stokes is a St. Louis native and a graduate of Saint Louis University High School and Fairfield (Conn.) University. He spent six years as a political aide at the St. Louis County Council before joining the Show-Me Institute in 2007. Stokes was a policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute from 2007 to 2016. From 2016 through 2020 he was Executive Director of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, where he led efforts to oppose harmful floodplain developments done with abusive tax subsidies. Stokes rejoined the Institute in early 2021 as the Director of Municipal Policy. He is a past president of the University City Library Board. He served on the St. Louis County 2010 Council Redistricting Commission and was the 2012 representative to the Electoral College from Missouri’s First Congressional District. He lives in University City with his wife and their three children.

[email protected]

Learn more about this author >