By: Hughes	S.B. No. 904
	(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2019; March 11, 2019, read
	first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
	April 8, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
	Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 2; April 8, 2019,
	sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 904	By:  Hughes

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the use of governmental communications systems to
	distribute political advertising; providing a civil penalty.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 255.003(a) and (b), Election Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(a)  An officer or employee of a political subdivision may
	not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds,
	including by use of government communications systems, such as
	electronic communications, for political advertising.
	(b)  Subsection (a) does not apply to a communication that
	factually describes the purposes of a ballot measure if the
	communication does not advocate passage or defeat of the measure.
	SECTION 2.  Section 255.0031(d)(1), Election Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(1)  "Internal mail system" means a system operated by
	a state agency or political subdivision to deliver written
	documents or electronic communications to officers or employees of
	the agency or subdivision.
	SECTION 3.  Chapter 255, Election Code, is amended by adding
	Sections 255.009 and 255.010 to read as follows:
	Sec. 255.009.  MISUSE OF GOVERNMENT RESOURCES BY THIRD
	PARTY. (a)  A person, political campaign, or advocacy group may
	not misuse government resources by causing political advertising to
	be delivered to an e-mail address issued by this state or by a
	political subdivision of this state.
	(b)  For each government-issued e-mail address receiving an
	e-mail described by Subsection (a), the person, political campaign,
	or advocacy group sending the e-mail is liable for a civil penalty
	of $100 if:
	(1)  the attorney general, a district attorney, or a
	county attorney notified the person, political campaign, or
	advocacy group that an e-mail was delivered in violation of
	Subsection (a); and
	(2)  the person, political campaign, or advocacy group,
	after receiving notice of the violation, delivered an e-mail in
	violation of Subsection (a) to the same e-mail address.
	(c)  The attorney general, a district attorney, or a county
	attorney may enforce this provision.
	Sec. 255.010.  DEFINITION. In this chapter, "electronic
	communications" means any communication facilitated by the use of
	any electronic device, including a cellular telephone, computer,
	computer network, personal data assistant, or pager.  The term
	includes e-mails, text messages, instant messages, and any
	communications made through a mobile application for electronic
	devices or through an Internet website.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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