Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR112 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R2285 EES-D
2	2	By: Cook H.J.R. No. 112
3	3
4	4
5	5	A JOINT RESOLUTION
6	6	proposing a constitutional amendment requiring certain persons or
7	7	groups to report certain contributions and political expenditures.
8	8	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Article XVI, Texas Constitution, is amended by
10	10	adding Section 75 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 75. (a) In this section:
12	12	(1) "Campaign contribution" means a contribution to a
13	13	candidate or political committee that is offered or given with the
14	14	intent that it be used in connection with a campaign for elective
15	15	office or on a measure. Whether a contribution is made before,
16	16	during, or after an election does not affect its status as a
17	17	campaign contribution.
18	18	(2) "Campaign expenditure" means an expenditure made
19	19	by any person in connection with a campaign for an elective office
20	20	or on a measure. Whether an expenditure is made before, during, or
21	21	after an election does not affect its status as a campaign
22	22	expenditure.
23	23	(3) "Candidate" means a person who knowingly and
24	24	willingly takes affirmative action for the purpose of gaining
25	25	nomination or election to public office or for the purpose of
26	26	satisfying financial obligations incurred by the person in
27	27	connection with the campaign for nomination or election. Examples
28	28	of affirmative action include:
29	29	(A) the filing of a campaign treasurer
30	30	appointment, except that the filing does not constitute candidacy
31	31	or an announcement of candidacy for purposes of the automatic
32	32	resignation provisions of Section 65 of this article or Section 11,
33	33	Article XI;
34	34	(B) the filing of an application for a place on a
35	35	ballot;
36	36	(C) the filing of an application for nomination
37	37	by convention;
38	38	(D) the filing of a declaration of intent to
39	39	become an independent candidate or a declaration of write-in
40	40	candidacy;
41	41	(E) the making of a public announcement of a
42	42	definite intent to run for public office in a particular election,
43	43	regardless of whether the specific office is mentioned in the
44	44	announcement;
45	45	(F) before a public announcement of intent, the
46	46	making of a statement of definite intent to run for public office
47	47	and the soliciting of support by letter or other mode of
48	48	communication;
49	49	(G) the soliciting or accepting of a campaign
50	50	contribution or the making of a campaign expenditure; and
51	51	(H) the seeking of the nomination of an executive
52	52	committee of a political party to fill a vacancy.
53	53	(4) "Commission" means the Texas Ethics Commission.
54	54	(5) "Contribution" means a direct or indirect transfer
55	55	of money, goods, services, or any other thing of value and includes
56	56	an agreement made or other obligation incurred, whether legally
57	57	enforceable or not, to make a transfer. The term includes a loan or
58	58	extension of credit, other than those expressly excluded by this
59	59	subdivision, and a guarantee of a loan or extension of credit,
60	60	including a loan described by this subdivision. The term also
61	61	includes dues and gifts. The term does not include:
62	62	(A) a loan made in the due course of business by a
63	63	corporation that is legally engaged in the business of lending
64	64	money and that has conducted the business continuously for more
65	65	than one year before the loan is made;
66	66	(B) a commercial transaction involving the
67	67	transfer for consideration of anything of value pursuant to a
68	68	contract or agreement that reflects the usual and normal business
69	69	practice of an industry; or
70	70	(C) an expenditure required to be reported in a
71	71	lobbying activities report filed with the commission.
72	72	(6) "Contribution in connection with campaign
73	73	activity" means a contribution from a donor to a person or group
74	74	that, at the time that the donor makes the contribution, the donor
75	75	knows or has reason to know may be used to make a political
76	76	contribution or political expenditure or may be commingled with
77	77	other funds used to make a political contribution or political
78	78	expenditure. A donor who signs a statement indicating that the
79	79	donor's contribution to the person or group may not be used to make
80	80	a political contribution or political expenditure does not have
81	81	reason to know that the donor's contribution may be used to make a
82	82	political contribution or political expenditure.
83	83	(7) "Direct campaign expenditure" means a campaign
84	84	expenditure that does not constitute a campaign contribution by the
85	85	person making the expenditure.
86	86	(8) "Donor" means a person who makes a contribution to
87	87	a person or group to whom this section applies, regardless of
88	88	whether the person making the contribution is a member of the person
89	89	or group that accepts the contribution.
90	90	(9) "Expenditure" means a payment of money or any
91	91	other thing of value and includes an agreement made or other
92	92	obligation incurred, whether legally enforceable or not, to make a
93	93	payment.
94	94	(10) "General-purpose committee" means a political
95	95	committee that has among its principal purposes:
96	96	(A) supporting or opposing:
97	97	(i) two or more candidates who are
98	98	unidentified or are seeking offices that are unknown; or
99	99	(ii) one or more measures that are
100	100	unidentified; or
101	101	(B) assisting two or more officeholders who are
102	102	unidentified.
103	103	(11) "Labor organization" means an agency, committee,
104	104	or any other organization in which employees participate that
105	105	exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with
106	106	employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of
107	107	pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.
108	108	(12) "Measure" means a question or proposal submitted
109	109	in an election for an expression of the voters' will and includes
110	110	the circulation and submission of a petition to determine whether a
111	111	question or proposal is required to be submitted in an election for
112	112	an expression of the voters' will.
113	113	(13) "Officeholder contribution" means a contribution
114	114	to an officeholder or political committee that is offered or given
115	115	with the intent that it be used to defray expenses that:
116	116	(A) are incurred by the officeholder in
117	117	performing a duty or engaging in an activity in connection with the
118	118	office; and
119	119	(B) are not reimbursable with public money.
120	120	(14) "Officeholder expenditure" means an expenditure
121	121	made by any person to defray expenses that:
122	122	(A) are incurred by an officeholder in performing
123	123	a duty or engaging in an activity in connection with the office; and
124	124	(B) are not reimbursable with public money.
125	125	(15) "Political committee" means a group of persons
126	126	that has as a principal purpose accepting political contributions
127	127	or making political expenditures.
128	128	(16) "Political contribution" means a campaign
129	129	contribution or an officeholder contribution.
130	130	(17) "Political expenditure" means a campaign
131	131	expenditure or an officeholder expenditure.
132	132	(18) "Reportable activity" means a political
133	133	contribution, political expenditure, or other activity required to
134	134	be reported under state law regulating political funds and
135	135	campaigns.
136	136	(b) This section applies only to a person or group that:
137	137	(1) is not a political committee;
138	138	(2) accepts one or more contributions in connection
139	139	with campaign activity from a person that in the aggregate exceed
140	140	$2,000 during a reporting period; and
141	141	(3) makes one or more political expenditures that in
142	142	the aggregate exceed $25,000 during a calendar year, excluding:
143	143	(A) a direct campaign expenditure that a
144	144	corporation or labor organization makes from its own property for
145	145	the purpose of communicating directly with its stockholders or
146	146	members, as applicable, or with the families of its stockholders or
147	147	members;
148	148	(B) an expenditure that a corporation or labor
149	149	organization makes to finance nonpartisan voter registration and
150	150	get-out-the-vote campaigns aimed at its stockholders or members, as
151	151	applicable, or at the families of its stockholders or members;
152	152	(C) a political expenditure that a corporation or
153	153	labor organization, acting alone or with one or more other
154	154	corporations or labor organizations, as applicable, makes to
155	155	finance the establishment or administration of a general-purpose
156	156	committee;
157	157	(D) a political expenditure that a corporation or
158	158	labor organization makes to finance the solicitation of political
159	159	contributions from the stockholders, members, or employees, or
160	160	families of stockholders, members, or employees of one or more
161	161	corporations or labor organizations, as applicable to a
162	162	general-purpose committee described by Paragraph (C) of this
163	163	subdivision; and
164	164	(E) a contribution made by a corporation or labor
165	165	organization from its own property to a political party to be used
166	166	by the political party only to:
167	167	(i) defray normal overhead and
168	168	administrative or operating costs incurred by the party; or
169	169	(ii) administer a primary election or
170	170	convention held by the party.
171	171	(c) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a person
172	172	or group shall comply with the requirements and procedures for
173	173	reporting political contributions and political expenditures
174	174	established by the legislature as if the person or group were the
175	175	campaign treasurer of a general-purpose committee that does not
176	176	file monthly reports.
177	177	(d) A person or group is not required to file a campaign
178	178	treasurer appointment for accepting contributions or making
179	179	political expenditures for which reporting is required under this
180	180	section, unless the person or group is otherwise required to file a
181	181	campaign treasurer appointment under state law.
182	182	(e) A person or group is not required to file a report under
183	183	this section if:
184	184	(1) the person or group is required to disclose the
185	185	contributions and political expenditures in another report of
186	186	political contributions and political expenditures required by
187	187	state law within the time applicable under this section for
188	188	reporting the contributions and political expenditures; or
189	189	(2) no reportable activity occurs during the reporting
190	190	period.
191	191	(f) Disclosure of a contribution in the manner provided by
192	192	the legislature for reports of political contributions and
193	193	political expenditures by general-purpose committees is required
194	194	in a report under this section only if:
195	195	(1) the contribution is a contribution in connection
196	196	with campaign activity; and
197	197	(2) the aggregate amount of contributions in
198	198	connection with campaign activity accepted from a person exceeds
199	199	$2,000 during the reporting period.
200	200	(g) A report required under this section is not required to
201	201	include:
202	202	(1) any contributions accepted by the person or group
203	203	that are not contributions in connection with campaign activity;
204	204	(2) the total amount of unitemized political
205	205	contributions accepted by the person or group;
206	206	(3) the total amount of political contributions
207	207	maintained by the person or group;
208	208	(4) any expenditures made by the person or group that
209	209	are not political expenditures;
210	210	(5) the total amount of unitemized political
211	211	expenditures made by the person or group; or
212	212	(6) the principal amount of all of the person's or
213	213	group's outstanding loans.
214	214	(h) The first report required to be filed in a calendar year
215	215	in which the $2,000 or $25,000 threshold under Subsection (b) of
216	216	this section is exceeded must include all contributions in
217	217	connection with campaign activity accepted from a person that in
218	218	the aggregate exceed $2,000 and all political expenditures made in
219	219	the 12 months immediately preceding the acceptance of the
220	220	contribution in connection with campaign activity or the making of
221	221	the political expenditure that triggers the reporting requirements
222	222	of this section and not previously reported as required under this
223	223	section.
224	224	(i) A contribution consisting of personal travel expense
225	225	incurred by an individual is not required to be reported under this
226	226	section if the individual receives no reimbursement for the
227	227	expense.
228	228	(j) A contribution consisting of an individual's personal
229	229	service is not required to be reported under this section if the
230	230	individual receives no compensation for the service.
231	231	(k) A person to whom this section applies and who, not
232	232	acting in concert with another person, makes one or more direct
233	233	campaign expenditures in an election from the person's own property
234	234	is not required to comply with any requirements or procedures
235	235	established by the legislature for separately reporting the direct
236	236	campaign expenditures.
237	237	(l) Any state law generally applicable to reports of
238	238	political contributions and political expenditures filed with the
239	239	commission, including any penalty provision for untimely or
240	240	incomplete reports, is applicable to a report filed under this
241	241	section.
242	242	SECTION 2. The following temporary provision is added to
243	243	the Texas Constitution:
244	244	TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies
245	245	to the constitutional amendment proposed by the 85th Legislature,
246	246	Regular Session, 2017, requiring certain persons or groups who are
247	247	not political committees to report certain contributions and
248	248	political expenditures.
249	249	(b) The constitutional amendment takes effect January 1,
250	250	2018.
251	251	(c) The change in law made by this amendment applies only to
252	252	the reporting of a contribution in connection with campaign
253	253	activity or political expenditure made on or after the effective
254	254	date of the amendment. A contribution or expenditure made before
255	255	the effective date of the amendment is governed by the law in effect
256	256	when the contribution or expenditure was made, and the former law is
257	257	continued in effect for that purpose.
258	258	(d) This temporary provision expires January 1, 2019.
259	259	SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
260	260	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 2017.
261	261	The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the
262	262	proposition: "The constitutional amendment requiring certain
263	263	persons or groups to report certain contributions and political
264	264	expenditures."