Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1036 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R1324 BRG-F
2	2	By: Meza H.B. No. 1036
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to limits on certain political contributions; creating a
8	8	criminal offense.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 253.003(c), Election Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(c) This section does not apply to a political contribution
13	13	made or accepted in violation of Subchapter C or F.
14	14	SECTION 2. Section 253.004(b), Election Code, is amended to
15	15	read as follows:
16	16	(b) This section does not apply to a political expenditure
17	17	made or authorized in violation of Subchapter C or F.
18	18	SECTION 3. Section 253.005(b), Election Code, is amended to
19	19	read as follows:
20	20	(b) This section does not apply to a political expenditure
21	21	that is:
22	22	(1) prohibited by Section 253.101; or
23	23	(2) made from a political contribution made in
24	24	violation of Subchapter C or F.
25	25	SECTION 4. Chapter 253, Election Code, is amended by adding
26	26	Subchapter C to read as follows:
27	27	SUBCHAPTER C. CERTAIN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS
28	28	Sec. 253.051. CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND
29	29	CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES. (a) An individual may not make
30	30	campaign contributions to a candidate or specific-purpose
31	31	committee for supporting the candidate in a primary, general, or
32	32	special election that exceed:
33	33	(1) $7,000 for each candidate for governor;
34	34	(2) $5,500 for each candidate for a statewide office
35	35	other than governor;
36	36	(3) $4,000 for each candidate for the senate; and
37	37	(4) $2,700 for each candidate for the house of
38	38	representatives.
39	39	(b) A general-purpose committee may not make political
40	40	contributions to a candidate, officeholder, or specific-purpose
41	41	committee for supporting or assisting the candidate or officeholder
42	42	that exceed $30,000 per year for each candidate or officeholder.
43	43	Sec. 253.052. CERTAIN POLITICAL EXPENDITURES INCLUDED IN
44	44	CONTRIBUTION LIMITS. (a) A political expenditure made by an
45	45	individual or general-purpose committee in coordination with a
46	46	candidate or officeholder is a political contribution in support of
47	47	that candidate or officeholder for purposes of Section 253.051.
48	48	(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), a political expenditure
49	49	is in coordination with a candidate or officeholder if:
50	50	(1) the candidate or officeholder engages in
51	51	fund-raising for the individual or committee making the
52	52	expenditure;
53	53	(2) the candidate or officeholder has family members
54	54	or high-level staff who are employed by the individual or committee
55	55	making the expenditure;
56	56	(3) the expenditure was based on information about the
57	57	candidate's or officeholder's plans or needs provided to the
58	58	individual or committee by the candidate or officeholder;
59	59	(4) the candidate or officeholder and the individual
60	60	or committee employ one or more of the same consultants; or
61	61	(5) the individual or committee republishes or
62	62	redistributes the candidate's or officeholder's campaign
63	63	communications.
64	64	(c) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
65	65	section.
66	66	Sec. 253.053. NONPROFIT FUND-RAISING NOT INCLUDED IN
67	67	CONTRIBUTION LIMITS. The limits established by Section 253.051 do
68	68	not apply to fund-raising by a candidate or officeholder on behalf
69	69	of a nonprofit charitable organization, provided that:
70	70	(1) the candidate or officeholder does not receive any
71	71	benefit from the organization; and
72	72	(2) the name or office of the candidate or
73	73	officeholder is not used by the organization.
74	74	Sec. 253.054. CONTRIBUTIONS AT POLITICAL FUND-RAISING
75	75	EVENTS. (a) This section applies only to a fund-raising event
76	76	intended to benefit a candidate, officeholder, or specific-purpose
77	77	committee for supporting or assisting the candidate or officeholder
78	78	and that is hosted by a person other than the candidate,
79	79	officeholder, or committee.
80	80	(b) A person who collects contributions at a fund-raising
81	81	event to which this section applies shall report to the commission:
82	82	(1) the amount of each contribution and the name,
83	83	address, occupation, and employer of each individual who made a
84	84	contribution;
85	85	(2) the date the fund-raising event occurred;
86	86	(3) the total amount of contributions collected at the
87	87	fund-raising event;
88	88	(4) the name of each candidate, officeholder, or
89	89	specific-purpose committee to which contributions collected at the
90	90	event were presented;
91	91	(5) the amount of contributions presented to each
92	92	candidate, officeholder, or specific-purpose committee after the
93	93	event; and
94	94	(6) any other information required by the commission.
95	95	(c) A contribution that is collected from an individual at a
96	96	fund-raising event to which this section applies and presented to a
97	97	candidate or specific-purpose committee for supporting the
98	98	candidate is a campaign contribution made by the individual for
99	99	purposes of Section 253.051(a).
100	100	(d) The commission shall prescribe a form for a report
101	101	required under this section.
102	102	Sec. 253.055. ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION. Not later than
103	103	December 1 of each year, the commission shall increase the
104	104	political contribution limits established by Section 253.051 by the
105	105	amount that results from applying the inflation rate, as determined
106	106	by the comptroller on the basis of the increase, if any, in the
107	107	Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the
108	108	Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of
109	109	Labor, to the current contribution limits. The adjusted
110	110	contribution limits shall be effective for the calendar year
111	111	following the adjustment.
112	112	Sec. 253.056. OFFENSE: EXCESSIVE CONTRIBUTION. (a) A
113	113	person commits an offense if the person knowingly makes
114	114	contributions in violation of Section 253.051 that exceed the
115	115	limitations provided by that section by $2,000 or more during a
116	116	calendar year.
117	117	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
118	118	this section is a misdemeanor punishable by:
119	119	(1) a fine not to exceed:
120	120	(A) $100,000 for an individual; or
121	121	(B) $200,000 for a general-purpose committee;
122	122	(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one
123	123	year; or
124	124	(3) both the fine and confinement.
125	125	(c) If the contributions made in violation of Section
126	126	253.051 exceed the limitations provided by that section by $25,000
127	127	or more during a calendar year, an offense under this section is a
128	128	felony punishable by:
129	129	(1) a fine not to exceed:
130	130	(A) $250,000 for an individual; or
131	131	(B) $500,000 for a general-purpose committee;
132	132	(2) imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal
133	133	Justice for any term of not more than five years; or
134	134	(3) both the fine and imprisonment.
135	135	SECTION 5. Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas Ethics
136	136	Commission shall adopt rules and prescribe forms as necessary to
137	137	implement Subchapter C, Chapter 253, Election Code, as added by
138	138	this Act.
139	139	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
140	140	a contribution or expenditure made on or after the effective date of
141	141	this Act. A contribution or expenditure made before the effective
142	142	date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
143	143	contribution or expenditure was made, and the former law is
144	144	continued in effect for that purpose.
145	145	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2022.