Bill Text: TX SB344 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the content of detailed reports filed by lobbyists and to monetary limits on expenditures by lobbyists.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-13 - Filed [SB344 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-SB344-Introduced.html

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89R4304 MZM-F
By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 344

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the content of detailed reports filed by lobbyists and
to monetary limits on expenditures by lobbyists.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 305.0061, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsections (h)
and (i) to read as follows:
(a) If a registrant or a person on the registrant's behalf
and with the registrant's consent or ratification makes
expenditures that exceed 30 [60] percent of the amount of the
legislative per diem in a day for transportation or lodging for a
member of the legislative or executive branch or for the immediate
family of a member of the legislative or executive branch, the
registrant shall also state the following on the report filed under
Section 305.006:
(1) the name of the member of the legislative or
executive branch in whose behalf the expenditure is made;
(2) the place and date of the transportation or
lodging; and
(3) the purpose of the transportation or lodging.
(b) If a registrant or a person on the registrant's behalf
and with the registrant's consent or ratification makes
expenditures that exceed 30 [60] percent of the amount of the
legislative per diem in a day for food and beverages for a member of
the legislative or executive branch or for the immediate family of a
member of the legislative or executive branch or makes expenditures
that exceed 30 [60] percent of the amount of the legislative per
diem in a day for entertainment for a member of the legislative or
executive branch or for the immediate family of a member of the
legislative or executive branch, the registrant shall also state
the following on the report filed under Section 305.006:
(1) the name of the member of the legislative or
executive branch in whose behalf the expenditure is made;
(2) the place and date of the expenditure; and
(3) the amount of the expenditure by the appropriate
category of the amount, as determined by the commission.
(c) If a registrant or a person on the registrant's behalf
and with the registrant's consent or ratification gives to a member
of the legislative or executive branch, or to the immediate family
of a member of the legislative or executive branch, a gift or an
award or memento, the value of which exceeds $50 per gift, award, or
memento, the registrant shall also state the following on the
report filed under Section 305.006:
(1) the name of the member of the legislative or
executive branch in whose behalf the expenditure is made;
(2) a general description of the gift, award, or
memento; and
(3) the amount of the expenditure by the appropriate
category of the amount, as determined by the commission.
(h) If more than one registrant or persons acting on behalf
of more than one registrant and with each registrant's consent or
ratification collaborate to make a joint expenditure described by
Section 305.006(b), each registrant shall report the total amount
of the shared expenditure as required by Subsection (a) or (b), if
the total amount of the shared expenditure exceeds the amount
provided under Subsection (a) or (b).
(i) If more than one registrant or persons acting on behalf
of more than one registrant and with each registrant's consent or
ratification collaborate to make a joint expenditure described by
Section 305.006(b), each registrant shall report the total value of
the shared expenditure as required by Subsection (c), if the total
value of the shared expenditure exceeds the amount provided under
Subsection (c).
SECTION 2. Section 305.024(a), Government Code, as amended
by Chapters 92 (S.B. 1011) and 206 (H.B. 1508), Acts of the 79th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 305.025, a person
registered under Section 305.005 or a person on the registrant's
behalf and with the registrant's consent or ratification may not
offer, confer, or agree to confer:
(1) to an individual described by Section
305.0062(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5):
(A) a loan, including the guarantee or
endorsement of a loan; or
(B) a gift of cash or a negotiable instrument as
described by Section 3.104, Business & Commerce Code; or
(2) to an individual described by Section
305.0062(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (7):
(A) an expenditure for transportation and
lodging;
(B) an expenditure or series of expenditures for
entertainment that in the aggregate exceed $500 in a calendar year;
(C) an expenditure or series of expenditures for
gifts that in the aggregate exceed $500 in a calendar year;
(D) an expenditure for an award or memento that
exceeds $500; or
(E) an expenditure described by Section
305.006(b)(1), (2), (3), or (6) unless:
(i) [(A)] the registrant is present at the
event; or
(ii) [(B)] the expenditure is for a gift of
food or beverages required to be reported under Section
305.006(b)(4) in accordance with Section 305.0061(e-1).
SECTION 3. Section 305.024, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The registrant shall notify a member of the legislative
or executive branch when the registrant has reported, as to that
member of the legislative or executive branch, expenditures that,
in the aggregate, equal the monetary limits for expenditures under
Subsection (a)(2).
SECTION 4. Section 305.031(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
or knowingly violates a provision of this chapter other than
Section 305.022, 305.024(d), or 305.028. An offense under this
subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
SECTION 5. Section 305.024(c), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a gift, award, or memento given to or expenditures for
transportation, lodging, food, beverages, or entertainment made
for a member of the legislative or executive branch or the immediate
family of a member of the legislative or executive branch on or
after the effective date of this Act. A gift, award, or memento
given to or an expenditure for transportation, lodging, food,
beverages, or entertainment made for a member of the legislative or
executive branch or the immediate family of a member of the
legislative or executive branch before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the gift, award, or
memento was given, or the date the expenditure was made, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 12, 2027.