Governor Deval Patrick is taking aim at a time-worn Beacon Hill practice that, on the surface, seems paradoxical: state government hiring expensive lobbyists to influence state government.

Buried in the governor's budget proposal unveiled last week is a little-noticed provision that would bar state agencies from employing outside lobbyists to influence the Legislature or other branches of state government.

A Globe review of public records showed yesterday that members of the Beacon Hill lobbying corps earn hefty sums to represent various state entities, from big ones like the MBTA to more obscure ones like the Massachusetts State College Building Authority.

The review, which was not comprehensive, found that more than 20 agencies hired lobbyists in 2008, collectively spending well more than $1 million.

"This longstanding practice of some state entities hiring outside lobbyists to represent them in front of our own state agencies is archaic and an inappropriate use of limited resources in this time of tight finances and difficult budget cuts," said Patrick spokesman Joe Landolfi.

Two lobbyists, who did not wish to be quoted, said they are now lobbying to defeat the measure.

Patrick was on a trade mission to the West Coast yesterday and unavailable for comment. His administration said the lobbying ban for state agencies is part of a package of changes the governor is proposing to tighten lobbying rules at the State House, which has suffered from a series of ethical controversies and scandals this year.

The language in Patrick's budget proposal went largely unnoticed last week, except by lobbyists, several of whom refused to comment about the proposal yesterday.

Paul Pezzella, the lobbyist for Worcester State College, said the measure will "merit real consideration because of fiscal concerns.

"It's a way of cutting back costs and people should appreciate that," he said. "On the other hand, some of these agencies need specific help with specific problems, and sometimes it's wise to retain outside help. It depends on the situation and the circumstance."

But the initiative won plaudits from the state's chief enforcer of lobbying regulations, Secretary of State William Galvin. Galvin called it odd that so many public agencies have their own hired political guns.

"Everyone has to have a lobbyist? Why?" he said. "The philosophical core is that public monies shouldn't be spent to game the process, that spending decisions should be on their merits."

In addition to covering state agencies, the prohibition would extend to groups that receive state funding such as the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association. The association's lobbyist, Robert White, helped the DAs win from the Legislature a two-step, $31,000-a-year pay raise in 2007.

MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development authority, last year paid its lobbyist, former Suffolk County sheriff Dennis Kearney, $100,000. A spokeswoman for MassDevelopment, Janet Hookailo, said Kearney's firm "provides a very valuable service in helping us track legislative developments and generally interface with legislative leaders."