Pay-To-Play: How Abbott’s Donors Cashed In On Disaster

Nearly $1B in no-bid contracts went to Abbott’s donors, while Texas taxpayers paid the price.

Governor Greg Abbott was caught being corrupt…yet again. And if you’ve been following along with his 30-year career at the top of Texas government, you can add this latest scandal to the ever-growing list of kickbacks, crony contracts, shady appointments, and corporate favors that have defined his time in power.

See, Texans have been led to believe that “emergency declarations” are all about saving lives, shoring up the grid, and securing the coast. However, the receipts tell a whole different story.

Last week, Public Citizen dropped a shocking report. Nearly $1 billion in no-bid state contracts flowed to companies tied to Gov. Greg Abbott’s donors between 2020 and 2024.

Gothams LLC hauled in a flood of pandemic and disaster contracts, then its founder dropped $600,000 into Abbott’s PAC as the awards kept coming. Doggett Freightliners landed $1.6 million in contracts labeled simply as “fees,” days after a $500,000 donation, followed by an Abbott appointment to the Parks & Wildlife Commission. Deloitte, Enterprise, Abbott Laboratories, Motorola, McKesson, each appear in the ledger of big contributors matched with non-competitive awards.

Even if no statute was technically broken, the effect is the same. Disaster policy became a donor rewards program. As Public Citizen’s Texas director put it, insider dealing convinces people “the government works for wealthy people first and everyday Texans second.”

Greg Abbott practically wrote the book on pay-to-play politics.

From 1997, when Abbott sat on the Texas Supreme Court:

A few other pay-to-play scandals Abbott has been wrapped up in over the years:

• 2020: Five Republican lawmakers sue Abbott, saying he bypassed competitive bidding and separation-of-powers limits under “disaster” authority.

• 2022: Two-thirds of public-university regents are Abbott donors.

Then, there were the private business courts that Legislative Republicans established for the benefit of Abbott and his donors.

Gina Hinojosa is calling on Attorney General Ken Paxton to open an investigation into Abbott’s corruption. From her Threads today:

She’s right, Abbott is the most corrupt Governor in Texas history. For the history buffs, I would argue that Abbott is more corrupt than Pa Ferguson. And if Hinojosa decides to run against Abbott and frames his corruption as a main campaign talking point, she’ll have plenty of material for it.

That being said, Ken Paxton was literally impeached by his Republican peers for his own corruption. And he was only acquitted because Abbott’s counterpart, Dan Patrick, took a $3 million bribe to keep Paxton in power, which is why Paxton will never open an investigation against Abbott. It’s the good ol’ boy club, and they’re all in it.

Both Texas’ ethics and campaign finance laws are jokes.

And Republicans make that intentional. The entire campaign finance system in Texas is rigged. Texas is one of the only states in America with no limits whatsoever on campaign contributions from corporations, PACs, or individuals. None. A billionaire can drop $10 million on Abbott tomorrow, and it’s perfectly legal. That money can show up the same week his company lands a sweetheart contract. And Abbott doesn’t even have to pretend he’s ashamed of it.

Meanwhile, 15 other states, red and blue, already have pay-to-play restrictions on contractors. In Ohio, a company can’t get a contract if its owners have donated more than $1,000 to the officials awarding it. In Kentucky, the cap is $5,000. In Texas? The cap is infinity. The only “limit” is how much billionaires feel like spending.

This is why Abbott and his friends continue to get away with it. The law incentivizes corruption. That’s why you see Doggett cutting Abbott a half-million-dollar check and then magically landing a $1.6 million contract labeled “fees.” That’s why energy companies handed Abbott millions after Winter Storm Uri, right after making billions off Texans freezing in the dark. And it’s why Abbott can rake in $10 million to push his school voucher scam, while Republican legislators line up like ducks to quack “yes” for their donor.

The truth is, Texas will never have campaign finance reform under Republican rule.

Every single attempt by Democrats to pass limits, whether it was $500,000, $50,000, or even $5,000, has been blocked by Republicans in the Legislature. Why? Because unlimited money is the lifeblood of their power.

Until we flip the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s mansion, Texas politicians will keep selling policy to the highest bidder. That’s the context for Abbott’s latest scandal. He’s thriving because there are no rules.

Here is how we get accountability.

Public Citizen outlines a clear, common-sense fix list.

• Ban contracts to big donors.

• If you land a non-competitive, emergency contract, you (and your PAC/officers/immediate family) can’t donate above a set limit for a defined cooling-off period.

• Real transparency, not mystery “fees.”

• Violations should mean contract forfeiture and future ineligibility.

I agree with all of that. And here’s what I would add:

• Statewide caps on campaign donations.

• Stronger lobbyist laws and cooling-off rules.

• No more donor appointments.

If you’re tired of watching our money turned into “fees” for friends, demand hearings on these reforms, press your reps to file the bills next session, and make this a litmus test for every candidate who wants your vote, because Republican governance in Texas appears to produce corruption consistently.

Texas doesn’t have to live like this.

We don’t have to accept a government where disaster declarations turn into donor punch cards, where “fees” eat our tax dollars, and where public trust gets pawned off for campaign checks. But Republicans will never reform the system that keeps them rich and in power.

They’ve killed every single campaign finance reform bill that’s ever been filed. They profit from the chaos. So the choice isn’t whether they’ll change, it’s whether we’ll change who holds power.

Call your reps if you want, demand hearings if you want, but the real accountability comes at the ballot box. The only way to end Abbott’s donor rewards program is to vote out every last Republican in Texas. Texans deserve leaders who won’t sell off public trust for campaign checks.

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