| 1 | 1 | | 84R3612 EES-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Howard H.B. No. 486 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the availability on the Internet of personal financial |
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| 8 | 8 | | statements filed by public officials. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 572.032, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (a-2) to |
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| 12 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (a) Financial statements filed under this subchapter are |
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| 14 | 14 | | public records. The commission shall maintain the statements in |
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| 15 | 15 | | separate alphabetical files and in a manner that is accessible to |
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| 16 | 16 | | the public during regular office hours and make the statements |
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| 17 | 17 | | available to the public on the commission's Internet website. |
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| 18 | 18 | | (a-2) The commission shall remove the home address of an |
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| 19 | 19 | | individual from a financial statement filed by the individual under |
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| 20 | 20 | | this subchapter before making the statement available to the public |
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| 21 | 21 | | on the commission's Internet website. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (c) After the second anniversary of the date the individual |
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| 23 | 23 | | ceases to be a state officer, the commission may and on notification |
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| 24 | 24 | | from the former state officer shall: |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) destroy each financial statement filed by the |
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| 26 | 26 | | state officer; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) remove each financial statement filed by the state |
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| 28 | 28 | | officer from the commission's Internet website. |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 2. Section 145.007, Local Government Code, is |
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| 30 | 30 | | amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (d) If a municipality makes financial statements filed |
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| 32 | 32 | | under this chapter available to the public on the municipality's |
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| 33 | 33 | | Internet website, the clerk or secretary of the municipality shall |
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| 34 | 34 | | remove the home address of an individual filing a statement before |
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| 35 | 35 | | making the statement available on the website. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 3. Section 159.007, Local Government Code, is |
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| 37 | 37 | | amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: |
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| 38 | 38 | | (d) If a county makes financial statements filed under this |
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| 39 | 39 | | subchapter available to the public on the county's Internet |
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| 40 | 40 | | website, the county clerk shall remove the home address of an |
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| 41 | 41 | | individual filing a statement before making the statement available |
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| 42 | 42 | | on the website. |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 159, Local Government |
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| 44 | 44 | | Code, is amended by adding Section 159.0342 to read as follows: |
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| 45 | 45 | | Sec. 159.0342. REDACTION OF INFORMATION FROM REPORTS |
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| 46 | 46 | | AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC ON INTERNET. If a county makes reports filed |
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| 47 | 47 | | under this subchapter available to the public on the county's |
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| 48 | 48 | | Internet website, the authority with whom the report is filed shall |
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| 49 | 49 | | remove the home address of an individual filing a report before |
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| 50 | 50 | | making the report available on the website. |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 5. Section 159.055, Local Government Code, is |
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| 52 | 52 | | amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: |
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| 53 | 53 | | (e) If a county makes financial statements filed under this |
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| 54 | 54 | | subchapter available to the public on the county's Internet |
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| 55 | 55 | | website, the county clerk shall remove the home address of an |
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| 56 | 56 | | individual filing a statement before making the statement available |
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| 57 | 57 | | on the website. |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 6. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
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| 59 | 59 | | of this Act, the Texas Ethics Commission shall make the financial |
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| 60 | 60 | | statements filed under Subchapter B, Chapter 572, Government Code, |
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| 61 | 61 | | available on the commission's Internet website, as provided by the |
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| 62 | 62 | | changes in law made by this Act. |
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| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 64 | 64 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 65 | 65 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 66 | 66 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 67 | 67 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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