84R11004 ATP-F
By: Burton S.B. No. 1862
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use by a political subdivision of public money for
lobbying activities or lobbyists; creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, is
transferred to Chapter 556, Government Code, redesignated as
Section 556.0056, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 556.0056 [89.002]. LOBBYING ACTIVITIES; ASSOCIATIONS
AND ORGANIZATIONS [STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES]. (a) This
section applies to:
(1) a political subdivision that imposes a tax; or
(2) a regional mobility authority, toll road
authority, or transit authority.
(b) The governing body of a political subdivision may not
spend public money to directly or indirectly influence or attempt
to influence the outcome of any legislation pending before the
legislature. This subsection does not prevent:
(1) an officer or employee of a political subdivision
from providing information for a member of the legislature or
appearing before a legislative committee at the request of the
committee or the member of the legislature;
(2) an elected officer of a political subdivision from
advocating for or against or otherwise influencing or attempting to
influence the outcome of legislation pending before the legislature
while acting as an officer of the political subdivision; or
(3) an employee of a political subdivision from
advocating for or against or otherwise influencing or attempting to
influence the outcome of legislation pending before the legislature
if those actions would not require a person to register as a
lobbyist under Chapter 305.
(c) The governing body of a political subdivision
[commissioners court] may spend, in the name of the political
subdivision [county], public money [from the county's general fund]
for membership fees and dues of a nonprofit state association or
organization of similarly situated political subdivisions only
[counties] if:
(1) a majority of the governing body [court] votes to
approve membership in the association or organization;
(2) the association or organization exists for the
betterment of local [county] government and the benefit of all
local [county] officials;
(3) the association or organization is not affiliated
with a labor organization;
(4) neither the association or organization nor an
employee of the association or organization directly or indirectly
influences or attempts to influence the outcome of any legislation
pending before the legislature[, except that this subdivision does
not prevent a person from providing information for a member of the
legislature or appearing before a legislative committee at the
request of the committee or the member of the legislature]; and
(5) [neither] the association or organization does not
[nor an employee of the association] directly or indirectly
contribute [contributes] any money, services, or other valuable
thing to a political campaign or endorse [endorses] a candidate or
group of candidates for public office.
(d) Subsection (c)(4) does not prevent a person from
providing information for a member of the legislature or appearing
before a legislative committee at the request of the committee or
the member of the legislature.
(e) An interested person, including a member of the news
media, or the attorney general on behalf of this state, may bring an
action by mandamus or injunction to stop, prevent, or reverse a
violation or threatened violation of this section by a member or
group of members of the governing body of a political subdivision or
by a lobbyist. The court may assess costs of litigation and
reasonable attorney's fees incurred by a plaintiff who
substantially prevails in an action under this subsection. In
exercising its discretion, the court shall consider whether the
action was brought in good faith and whether the conduct of the
political subdivision had a reasonable basis in law.
(f) A member or group of members of the governing body of a
political subdivision or a lobbyist commits an offense if the
member, group of members, or lobbyist knowingly conspires to
circumvent this section. An offense under this subsection is a
Class B misdemeanor.
(g) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
Subsection (f) that the person acted in reasonable reliance on a
court order or a written interpretation of this chapter contained
in an opinion of a court of record, the attorney general, or the
attorney for the political subdivision.
(h) If the state proceeds with an action under this section,
a private person who first brought the action is entitled, except as
provided by this subsection, to receive at least 15 percent but not
more than 25 percent of the proceeds of the action, depending on the
extent to which the person substantially contributed to the
prosecution of the action. If the state does not proceed with an
action under this section, the person bringing the action is
entitled, except as provided by this subsection, to receive at
least 25 percent but not more than 30 percent of the proceeds of the
action. The entitlement of a person under this subsection is not
affected by any subsequent intervention in the action by the state.
If the court finds that the action is based primarily on disclosures
of specific information, other than information provided by the
person bringing the action, relating to allegations or transactions
in a Texas or federal criminal or civil hearing, in a Texas or
federal legislative or administrative report, hearing, audit, or
investigation, or from the news media, the court may award to the
person the amount the court considers appropriate but not more than
10 percent of the proceeds of the action. The court shall consider
the significance of the information and the role of the person
bringing the action in advancing the case to litigation. A payment
to a person under this subsection shall be made from the proceeds of
the action. A person receiving a payment under this subsection is
also entitled to receive from the defendant an amount for
reasonable expenses, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs that the
court finds to have been necessarily incurred. The court's
determination of expenses, fees, and costs to be awarded under this
subsection shall be made only after the defendant has been found
liable in the action or the claim is settled. In this subsection,
"proceeds of the action" includes proceeds of a settlement of the
action.
[(b) If any association or organization supported wholly or
partly by payments of tax receipts from political subdivisions
engages in an activity described by Subsection (a)(4) or (5), a
taxpayer of a political subdivision that pays fees or dues to the
association or organization is entitled to appropriate injunctive
relief to prevent any further activity described by Subsection
(a)(4) or (5) or any further payments of fees or dues.]
SECTION 2. Section 556.0056, Government Code, as
redesignated and amended by this Act, applies only to an
expenditure or payment of public funds by a political subdivision
that is made on or after September 1, 2015. An expenditure or
payment of public funds by a political subdivision that is made
before September 1, 2015, is governed by the law in effect on the
date the expenditure or payment is made, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.