85S10410 JCG-D
By: Huffines S.B. No. 53
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the participation of a charitable organization that
facilitates the procurement of an elective abortion in the state
employee charitable campaign.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 659.146, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(a) To be eligible to participate in a state employee
charitable campaign, a charitable organization must:
(1) be governed by a voluntary board of citizens that
meets at least twice each year to set policy and manage the affairs
of the organization;
(2) if the organization's annual budget:
(A) does not exceed $250,000, provide a completed
Internal Revenue Service Form 990 and an accountant's review that
offers full and open disclosure of the organization's internal
operations; or
(B) exceeds $250,000, be audited annually in
accordance with generally accepted auditing standards of the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; [and]
(3) not spend more than 25 percent of its annual
revenue for administrative and fund-raising expenses; and
(4) not directly or indirectly facilitate the
procurement of an elective abortion.
(h) In this section, "elective abortion" means, for a female
known by an attending physician to be pregnant, the intentional
termination of the pregnancy using any means reasonably likely to
cause the death of the fetus. The term does not include the
termination of a pregnancy:
(1) that resulted from an act of rape or incest;
(2) for a female who suffers from a physical disorder,
disability, or illness, including a life-threatening physical
condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy, that, as
certified by a physician, places the female in danger of death or
risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an
abortion is performed; or
(3) that involves a fetus with a life-threatening
physical condition that, in reasonable medical judgment and
regardless of the provision of lifesaving treatment, is
incompatible with life outside the womb.
SECTION 2. Not later than April 1, 2018, the state employee
charitable campaign policy committee shall modify the guidelines
established under Section 659.146(f), Government Code, for
evaluating the applications of charitable organizations to be
consistent with the changes in law made by this Act. The state
employee charitable campaign policy committee shall exclude from
participation in a state employee charitable campaign any
charitable organization that does not meet the modified guidelines.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect December 1, 2017.