| 1 | 1 | | 85R2222 MK-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: King of Parker H.B. No. 427 |
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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 award of attorney's fees incurred in a suit |
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| 8 | 8 | | involving unlawful campaign contributions or campaign |
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| 9 | 9 | | expenditures. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 253.131, Election Code, is amended by |
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| 12 | 12 | | amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read |
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| 13 | 13 | | as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (d) In this section, "damages" means: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) twice the value of the unlawful contribution or |
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| 16 | 16 | | expenditure; and |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) reasonable attorney's fees incurred in the suit, |
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| 18 | 18 | | as provided by Subsections (f) and (g). |
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| 19 | 19 | | (f) The court may award attorney's fees to the plaintiff |
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| 20 | 20 | | only if: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) the court renders judgment in the plaintiff's |
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| 22 | 22 | | favor; and |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2) the plaintiff provides sufficient evidence that |
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| 24 | 24 | | the plaintiff provided proper notice of the violation of this |
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| 25 | 25 | | chapter to the defendant before the plaintiff filed suit under this |
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| 26 | 26 | | section. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (g) It is an affirmative defense to an award of attorney's |
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| 28 | 28 | | fees under Subsection (d) that the defendant, on receiving notice |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the violation of this chapter from the plaintiff, corrected the |
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| 30 | 30 | | violation within: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1) 14 days of receiving the notice, if the violation |
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| 32 | 32 | | of this chapter occurred not more than 90 days before the relevant |
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| 33 | 33 | | election; or |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) 30 days of receiving the notice, if the violation |
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| 35 | 35 | | of this chapter occurred more than 90 days before the relevant |
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| 36 | 36 | | election. |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 38 | 38 | | a campaign contribution or campaign expenditure made on or after |
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| 39 | 39 | | the effective date of this Act. A campaign contribution or campaign |
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| 40 | 40 | | expenditure made before the effective date of this Act is subject to |
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| 41 | 41 | | the law in effect at the time the contribution or expenditure was |
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| 42 | 42 | | made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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