Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)

Texas House members from El Paso say they have mixed opinions about local business leaders having to 'pay to play' in order to get state leaders to show interest in their region.

The El Paso Times reported Saturday that supporters of Gov. Rick Perry had given a combined $800,000 to the governor and planned to donate hundreds of thousands more.

El Paso businessman Woody Hunt told Times reporter Gary Scharrer that he and others had decided to open up their checkbooks in order to be "better connected to the state" and to "have access." Hunt said that in the old days, El Paso was ignored by state leaders and that the business community was determined to change that.

State Rep. Pat Haggerty (R-El Paso) told Border Buzz that the practice of 'pay to play' was nothing new, citing the example of President Clinton giving a pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich and allowing top supporters to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.

"This has nothing to do with Rick Perry. It has been going on since the election of the first Texas governor," Haggerty said. "If these guys want to give money to the governor, good luck to them. I hope they get something back in return."

El Paso business leaders opened up on the pay to play strategy after a private meeting with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) at the Bank of the West in El Paso last Tuesday. According to the El Paso Times, a group of business leaders said they would like Hutchison to stay on in Washington and asked her not to run against Perry in 2006.

The El Paso Times said Hutchison gave a "lecture-like response," denouncing the role big-money contributions play in state government.

"Senator Hutchison is appalled that people are being strong-armed, feel they have to hand over huge contributions in order to be heard in the state's political process," Hutchison spokesman Dave Beckwith later told Scharrer. "What she's been hearing around the state is encouragement - to provide the leadership to clean up that system."

Luis Saenz, Perry's campaign director, responded that, "others can deal in the Washington-style politics of personal destruction and blind ambition to do what is best for themselves, but Governor Perry will continue to be a strong, ethical and effective leader for El Paso and Texas as a whole."

The El Paso Times reported that business leaders Hunt, Jack Cardwell, Bob Ayoub, Ted Houghton, Bob Jones, Paul Foster, Rick Francis, Robert Brown, Jonathan Rogers, Jack Vowell, Meyer Marcus, Gerald Rubin, and Larry Patton met with Hutchison. Also present was El Paso Times Editor Don Flores.

Haggerty said the most likely influence business leaders could have with a governor would be an appointment to a state board. He said they could possibly influence Perry on a $45 million project the city's economic development group was pushing because the governor controls the Texas Enterprise Fund.

Haggerty said business leaders ought to be aware that a governor does not get to vote on key legislation but a lawmaker does. "We do get some money from the business community but that it's a pittance compared to what a governor gets," Haggerty said.

State Rep. Norma Chávez (D-El Paso) said she had been "blown away" by the amount of money El Paso business leaders were giving in campaign contributions to state leaders. "But, if it helps us get access, great," Chávez said.

Chávez said El Paso's geographical location, being the furthest city from Austin, put it at a distinct disadvantage. She said that in her time as a lawmaker the influence of the lobby had grown.

"I don't believe El Paso does wrong by playing the game," Chávez said. "But I do get disturbed when we hear that the business community goes and has meetings with the governor, with the lieutenant governor or the speaker, and none of the members have been notified."

State Rep. Paul Moreno (D-El Paso) said he was "extremely disturbed" by the El Paso Times story. Moreno said it showed how far removed business leaders were from the Chicano community. He wanted to know why Mexican American entrepreneurs were not present at the meeting with Hutchison.

"The article in the newspaper lets the people of El Paso know just how segregated we are," Moreno said.

"You saw nothing but the big, white, boys at that meeting. We only had one so-called Spanish-American, by the name of Don Flores, and I believe he was only there to break the color barrier. It shows me that the Paul Morenos and the Alicia Chacons are correct in saying El Paso is still controlled by the big Anglo boys."

Moreno said Hutchison was right to criticize the influence of big money contributions in state politics. "She is absolutely correct to say money buys politicians," Moreno said.

Moreno speculated that if it had been U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), rather than a female like Hutchison, El Paso business leaders would not have had the audacity to question a senator's future plans.