Legislature has little appetite to fund Ken Paxton's settlement with whistleblowers

Texas lawmakers are facing a choice: approve $3.3 million in state funds to end a lawsuit accusing Attorney General Ken Paxton of improperly firing four whistleblowers or reject an out-of-court settlement — potentially adding millions of dollars in costs while leaving the outcome of the lawsuit to fate in a long-shot attempt to make Paxton pay.

The multimillion-dollar settlement announced in February would resolve a 2-year-old lawsuit that alleges Paxton fired former high-ranking deputies in retaliation for accusing him of using his office to benefit a friend and political donor. The settlement would give the former employees back pay and several other concessions while ridding Paxton of one of several ongoing legal problems.

But in a blow to the former agency executives, lawmakers have shown little appetite to use state funds to help Paxton settle the case.

Plano Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican who heads the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, has said he was “troubled” that taxpayers would be on the hook for the settlement. House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, said he does not support the use of taxpayer money to settle the lawsuit.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/13/legislature-ken-paxton-whistleblower-settlement/