By: Leach, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 2586
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2019;
May 8, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 10, 2019, rereferred to Committee on Administration;
May 13, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
Nays 0; May 13, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to political contributions and political expenditures
made to or by political committees or other persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 251.001, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subdivisions (8) and (12) and adding Subdivision (21) to
read as follows:
(8) "Direct campaign expenditure" means a campaign
expenditure that does not constitute a campaign contribution by the
person making the expenditure. A campaign expenditure does not
constitute a contribution by the person making the expenditure to a
candidate or officeholder if the expenditure is made without the
prior consent or approval of the candidate or officeholder on whose
behalf the expenditure is made. A campaign expenditure made in
connection with a measure does not constitute a contribution by the
person making the expenditure if it is not made as a political
contribution to a political committee supporting or opposing the
measure.
(12) "Political committee" means two or more [a group
of] persons acting in concert with [that has as] a principal purpose
of accepting political contributions or making political
expenditures. The term does not include a group composed
exclusively of two or more individual filers or political
committees required to file reports under this title who make
reportable expenditures for a joint activity.
(21) "In-kind contribution" means a contribution of
goods, services, or any other thing of value that is not money, and
includes an agreement made or other obligation incurred, whether
legally enforceable or not, to make the contribution. The term does
not include a direct campaign expenditure.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 251, Election Code, is
amended by adding Sections 251.0015 and 251.0016 to read as
follows:
Sec. 251.0015. COMMUNICATION WITH CANDIDATE. For purposes
of Section 251.001(8), communication between a person and a
candidate, officeholder, or candidate's or officeholder's agent is
not evidence that the person obtained the candidate's or
officeholder's consent or approval for a campaign expenditure made
after the communication by the person on behalf of the candidate or
officeholder unless the communication establishes that:
(1) the expenditure is incurred at the request or
suggestion of the candidate, officeholder, or candidate's or
officeholder's agent;
(2) the candidate, officeholder, or candidate's or
officeholder's agent is materially involved in decisions regarding
the creation, production, or distribution of a campaign
communication related to the expenditure; or
(3) the candidate, officeholder, or candidate's or
officeholder's agent shares information about the candidate's or
officeholder's plans or needs that is:
(A) material to the creation, production, or
distribution of a campaign communication related to the
expenditure; and
(B) not available to the public.
Sec. 251.0016. COMMON VENDOR. A person using the same
vendor as a candidate, officeholder, or political committee
established or controlled by a candidate or officeholder is not
acting in concert with the candidate, officeholder, or committee to
make a campaign expenditure unless the person makes the expenditure
using information from the vendor about the campaign plans or needs
of the candidate, officeholder, or committee that is:
(1) material to the expenditure; and
(2) not available to the public.
SECTION 3. Section 252.003, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) In addition to the information required by Section
252.002, a campaign treasurer appointment by a general-purpose
committee must include:
(1) the full name, and any acronym of the name that
will be used in the name of the committee as provided by Subsection
(d), of each corporation, labor organization, or other association
or legal entity that directly establishes, administers, or controls
the committee, if applicable, or the name of each person who
determines to whom the committee makes contributions or the name of
each person who determines for what purposes the committee makes
expenditures;
(2) the full name and address of each general-purpose
committee to whom the committee intends to make political
contributions; [and]
(3) the name of the committee and, if the name is an
acronym, the words the acronym represents; and
(4) before the committee may use a political
contribution from a corporation or a labor organization to make a
direct campaign expenditure in connection with a campaign for an
elective office, an affidavit stating that:
(A) the committee is not established or
controlled by a candidate or an officeholder; and
(B) the committee will not use any political
contribution from a corporation or a labor organization to make a
political contribution to:
(i) a candidate for elective office;
(ii) an officeholder; or
(iii) a political committee that has not
filed an affidavit under this subdivision or Section
252.0031(a)(2).
(a-1) Filing an affidavit under Subsection (a)(4) does not
create any additional reporting requirements under Section
254.261.
SECTION 4. Section 252.0031, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to
read as follows:
(a) In addition to the information required by Section
252.002, a campaign treasurer appointment by a specific-purpose
committee for supporting or opposing a candidate for an office
specified by Section 252.005(1) must include:
(1) the name of and the office sought by the candidate;
and
(2) before the committee may use a political
contribution from a corporation or a labor organization to make a
direct campaign expenditure in connection with a campaign for an
elective office, an affidavit stating that:
(A) the committee is not established or
controlled by a candidate or an officeholder; and
(B) the committee will not use any political
contribution from a corporation or a labor organization to make a
political contribution to:
(i) a candidate for elective office;
(ii) an officeholder; or
(iii) a political committee that has not
filed an affidavit under this subdivision or Section 252.003(a)(4).
(a-1) If the [that] information required to be provided
under Subsection (a) changes, the committee shall immediately file
an amended appointment reflecting the change.
(a-2) Filing an affidavit under Subsection (a)(2) does not
create any additional reporting requirements under Section
254.261.
SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 253, Election Code, is
amended by adding Section 253.097 to read as follows:
Sec. 253.097. CONTRIBUTION FROM CORPORATION OR LABOR
ORGANIZATION. A corporation or labor organization may make
campaign contributions from its own property to a political
committee that has filed an affidavit with the committee's campaign
treasurer appointment in accordance with Section 252.003(a)(4) or
252.0031(a)(2).
SECTION 6. Sections 253.100(a) and (e), Election Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A corporation, acting alone or with one or more other
corporations, may make one or more political expenditures to
finance the establishment or administration of a general-purpose
committee. In addition to any other expenditure that is considered
permissible under this section, a corporation may make an
expenditure for the maintenance and operation of a general-purpose
committee, including an expenditure for:
(1) office space maintenance and repairs;
(2) telephone and Internet services;
(3) office equipment;
(4) utilities;
(5) general office and meeting supplies;
(6) salaries for routine clerical, data entry, and
administrative assistance necessary for the proper administrative
operation of the committee;
(7) legal and accounting fees for the committee's
compliance with this title;
(8) routine administrative expenses incurred in
establishing and administering a general-purpose political
committee;
(9) management and supervision of the committee,
including expenses incurred in holding meetings of the committee's
governing body to interview candidates and make endorsements
relating to the committee's support;
(10) the recording of committee decisions;
(11) expenses incurred in hosting candidate forums in
which all candidates for a particular office in an election are
invited to participate on the same terms; [or]
(12) expenses incurred in preparing and delivering
committee contributions; or
(13) creation and maintenance of the committee's
public Internet web pages that do not contain political
advertising.
(e) Subsection (d) does not apply to a corporation or labor
organization making a campaign contribution to a political
committee under Section 253.097 or an expenditure to communicate
with its stockholders or members, as applicable, or with the
families of its stockholders or members as provided by Section
253.098.
SECTION 7. Section 253.101, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Subsection (a) does not prohibit a political
committee from making a political contribution or political
expenditure wholly or partly from a campaign contribution made by a
corporation or labor organization to the political committee under
Section 253.096 or 253.097.
SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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