Bill Text: TX HB1585 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to matters affecting the powers and duties of the Texas Ethics Commission.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-11 - Referred to State Affairs [HB1585 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB1585-Engrossed.html

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By: Geren H.B. No. 1585

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to matters affecting the powers and duties of the Texas
Ethics Commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 251, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 251.0017 to read as follows:
Sec. 251.0017. POLITICAL ADVERTISING RELATED TO
LEGISLATION. For purposes of Section 251.001(16), a communication
supporting or opposing legislation is considered political
advertising under that subdivision if the communication would
appear to an ordinary reader, viewer, or listener to express
support or opposition of:
(1) a member of the legislature who authors or
sponsors the legislation; or
(2) a member of the legislature who supports or
opposes the legislation.
SECTION 2. Section 253.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A candidate may not knowingly accept [a] campaign
contributions totaling more than $500 [contribution] or make or
authorize [a] campaign expenditures totaling more than $500
[expenditure] at a time when a campaign treasurer appointment for
the candidate is not in effect.
SECTION 3. Section 253.035, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) The prohibitions prescribed by Subsections (a) and
(b) include the personal use of a political contribution accepted
by a person as a candidate or officeholder or by a specific-purpose
committee for supporting or assisting the person as a candidate or
officeholder to settle a civil action asserting a claim against the
person as a candidate or officeholder.
SECTION 4. Section 254.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, each
report filed under this chapter must include:
(1) the amount of political contributions, other than
political contributions described by Subdivision (1-a), from each
person that in the aggregate exceed $50 and that are accepted during
the reporting period by the person or committee required to file a
report under this chapter, the full name and address of the person
making the contributions, and the dates of the contributions;
(1-a) the amount of political contributions from each
person that are made electronically and that are accepted during
the reporting period by the person or committee required to file a
report under this chapter, the full name and address of the person
making the contributions, and the dates of the contributions;
(2) the amount of loans that are made during the
reporting period for campaign or officeholder purposes to the
person or committee required to file the report and that in the
aggregate exceed $50, the dates the loans are made, the interest
rate, the maturity date, the type of collateral for the loans, if
any, the full name and address of the person or financial
institution making the loans, the full name and address, principal
occupation, and name of the employer of each guarantor of the loans,
the amount of the loans guaranteed by each guarantor, and the
aggregate principal amount of all outstanding loans as of the last
day of the reporting period;
(3) the amount of political expenditures that in the
aggregate exceed $100 and that are made during the reporting
period, the full name and address of the persons to whom the
expenditures are made, and the dates and purposes of the
expenditures;
(4) the amount of each payment made during the
reporting period from a political contribution if the payment is
not a political expenditure, the full name and address of the person
to whom the payment is made, and the date and purpose of the
payment;
(5) the total amount or a specific listing of the
political contributions of $50 or less accepted and the total
amount or a specific listing of the political expenditures of $100
or less made during the reporting period;
(6) the total amount of all political contributions
accepted and the total amount of all political expenditures made
during the reporting period;
(7) the name of each candidate or officeholder for
whom [who benefits from] a direct campaign expenditure was made to
support or oppose during the reporting period by the person or
committee required to file the report, and the office sought or
held, excluding a direct campaign expenditure that is made by the
principal political committee of a political party on behalf of a
slate of two or more nominees of that party;
(8) as of the last day of a reporting period for which
the person is required to file a report, the total amount of
political contributions accepted, including interest or other
income on those contributions, maintained in one or more accounts
in which political contributions are deposited as of the last day of
the reporting period;
(9) any credit, interest, rebate, refund,
reimbursement, or return of a deposit fee resulting from the use of
a political contribution or an asset purchased with a political
contribution that is received during the reporting period and the
amount of which exceeds $100;
(10) any proceeds of the sale of an asset purchased
with a political contribution that is received during the reporting
period and the amount of which exceeds $100;
(11) any investment purchased with a political
contribution that is received during the reporting period and the
amount of which exceeds $100;
(12) any other gain from a political contribution that
is received during the reporting period and the amount of which
exceeds $100; and
(13) the full name and address of each person from whom
an amount described by Subdivision (9), (10), (11), or (12) is
received, the date the amount is received, and the purpose for which
the amount is received.
SECTION 5. Section 254.0401(a), Election Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall make each report filed with the
commission under Section 254.036(b) available to the public on the
Internet not later than the second business day after the date the
report is filed. The commission shall ensure the reports are
aggregated and machine-readable in a manner that allows a person to
easily navigate the information contained in the reports.
SECTION 6. Section 305.002(6), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(6) "Legislation" means:
(A) a bill, resolution, amendment, nomination,
or other matter pending in either house of the legislature,
including the election of the speaker of the house of
representatives;
(B) any matter that is or may be the subject of
action by either house or by a legislative committee, including the
introduction, consideration, passage, defeat, approval, or veto of
the matter; or
(C) any matter pending in a constitutional
convention or that may be the subject of action by a constitutional
convention.
SECTION 7. Section 305.027(e), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) In this section, "legislative advertising":
(1) means a communication that supports, opposes, or
proposes legislation and that:
(A) [(1)] in return for consideration, is
published in a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical or is
broadcast by radio or television; or
(B) [(2)] appears in a pamphlet, circular,
flier, billboard or other sign, bumper sticker, button, or similar
form of written communication; and
(2) does not include an individual communication made
by e-mail or text message but does include a mass e-mail or text
message that involves an expenditure of funds beyond the basic cost
of hardware messaging software and bandwidth.
SECTION 8. Section 571.064(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) If a law administered and enforced by the commission
sets dollar amounts or categories of amounts as reporting
thresholds or if the commission sets those amounts, the commission
[annually] shall decennially adjust those thresholds [upward] to
the nearest multiple of $100 [$10] in accordance with the
percentage increase for the preceding 10 years [previous year] in
the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of
Labor.
SECTION 9. Section 254.036(g), Election Code, is repealed.
SECTION 10. Section 253.035, Election Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to the use of a political contribution that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. The use of a
political contribution that occurs before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the use
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 11. Section 254.031, Election Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a report that is required to be filed
under Chapter 254, Election Code, on or after the effective date of
this Act. A report that is required to be filed under that chapter
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the report is required to be filed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
571.064(b), Government Code, do not affect an adjustment made by
the Texas Ethics Commission under that subsection before the
effective date of this Act. An adjustment made before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
adjustment was made, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.