85R450 MK-D
By: Huffines S.B. No. 638
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to restrictions on legislative lobbying by a regional
mobility authority or an employee of a regional mobility authority.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 370, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 370.2524 to read as follows:
Sec. 370.2524. LEGISLATIVE LOBBYING. (a) An authority or
an employee of an authority may not use money under the authority's
control or engage in an activity to influence the passage or defeat
of legislation.
(b) Violation of Subsection (a) is grounds for dismissal of
an employee.
(c) This section does not prohibit an authority or an
employee of an authority from using state resources to:
(1) provide public information or information
responsive to a request; or
(2) communicate with officers and employees of the
federal government in pursuit of federal appropriations or
programs.
(d) An authority may not spend from funds appropriated to
the department any money for the purpose of selecting, hiring, or
retaining a person required to register under Chapter 305,
Government Code, or the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C.
Section 1601 et seq.), unless that expenditure is allowed under
state law.
SECTION 2. Section 370.2524, Transportation Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an expenditure made or an activity
engaged in on or after the effective date of this Act. An
expenditure made or an activity engaged in before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
expenditure was made or the activity was engaged in, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.