By: Davis of Harris (Senate Sponsor - Huffman) H.B. No. 3511
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2015;
May 12, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 22, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3511 By: Huffman
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the contents of financial statements filed by certain
persons; adding a provision subject to criminal penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 572.023, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read
as follows:
(a) A financial statement must include an account of the
financial activity for the preceding calendar year of:
(1) any property characterized as separate property
under Section 3.001, Family Code, of the individual required by
this subchapter to file a financial statement;
(2) any community property of which the individual
required by this subchapter to file a financial statement has sole
management, control, and disposition as provided by Section
3.102(a), Family Code;
(3) any community property of the individual required
by this subchapter to file a financial statement, if the individual
exercised both factual and legal control over the activity; and
(4) [an account of the financial activity of] the
individual's [spouse and] dependent children if the individual
exercised or held the right to exercise any degree of legal or
factual [had actual] control over that activity [for the preceding
calendar year].
(g) A person who electronically files a verified financial
statement with the commission or another filing authority is not
required to include a notarized affidavit with the financial
statement if the person:
(1) has requested and received an electronic filing
password pursuant to the rules of the commission or other
authority, as applicable; and
(2) uses that password to file the financial
statement.
(h) Each financial statement filed under this chapter that
is not filed electronically must be accompanied by an affidavit
executed by the person required to file the financial statement.
The affidavit must contain the statement: "I swear, or affirm,
under penalty of perjury, that the accompanying report is true and
correct and includes all information required to be reported by me
under Chapter 572, Government Code." Each financial statement filed
electronically under this chapter must be under oath by the person
required to file the financial statement and must contain, in
compliance with commission or local filing authority
specifications, the digitized signature of the person required to
file the financial statement. A financial statement filed under
this chapter is considered to be under oath by the person required
to file the financial statement, and the person is subject to
prosecution under Chapter 37, Penal Code, regardless of the absence
of or a defect in the affidavit.
SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a financial statement
due on or after the effective date of this Act. A financial
statement due before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the financial statement was due, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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