Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB119 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		89R14789 CJD-F
2		-	By: Gerdes, Bonnen, Capriglione, Metcalf, H.B. No. 119
3		-	Troxclair, et al.
	2	+	By: Gerdes H.B. No. 119
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8	7		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	8		AN ACT
10	9		relating to the registration as a lobbyist of persons who engage in
11	10		certain lobbying activities on behalf of a foreign adversary and to
12	11		prohibitions on the receipt of compensation related to those
13	12		lobbying activities; providing a civil penalty.
14	13		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	14		SECTION 1. Section 305.003(a), Government Code, is amended
16	15		to read as follows:
17	16		(a) A person must register with the commission under this
18	17		chapter if the person:
19	18		(1) makes a total expenditure of an amount determined
20	19		by commission rule but not less than $200 in a calendar quarter, not
21	20		including the person's own travel, food, or lodging expenses or the
22	21		person's own membership dues, on activities described in Section
23	22		305.006(b) to communicate directly with one or more members of the
24	23		legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or
25	24		administrative action; [or]
26	25		(2) receives, or is entitled to receive under an
27	26		agreement under which the person is retained or employed,
28	27		compensation or reimbursement, not including reimbursement for the
29	28		person's own travel, food, or lodging expenses or the person's own
30	29		membership dues, of more than an amount determined by commission
31	30		rule but not less than $200 in a calendar quarter from another
32	31		person to communicate directly with a member of the legislative or
33	32		executive branch to influence legislation or administrative
34	33		action; or
35	34		(3) communicates directly with one or more members of
36	35		the legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or
37	36		administrative action on behalf of a foreign adversary, a foreign
38	37		adversary client, or a foreign adversary political party, as those
39	38		terms are defined by Section 305.030.
40	39		SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 305, Government Code, is
41	40		amended by adding Section 305.030 to read as follows:
42	41		Sec. 305.030. COMPENSATION FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY AND
43	42		RELATED PERSONS PROHIBITED; CIVIL ENFORCEMENT. (a) In this
44	43		section:
45	44		(1) "Control" means the direct or indirect power to
46	45		determine, direct, dictate, or decide important matters affecting
47	46		an entity, including through:
48	47		(A) the ownership of at least 20 percent of the
49	48		total outstanding voting interest in an entity;
50	49		(B) board representation;
51	50		(C) the ability to appoint or discharge a board
52	51		member, officer, director, employee, or contractor;
53	52		(D) proxy voting, a special share, a contractual
54	53		arrangement, a legal obligation, or a formal or informal
55	54		arrangement to act in concert; or
56	55		(E) another means of exercising power.
57	56		(2) "Foreign adversary" means:
58	57		(A) a foreign government or foreign
59	58		nongovernment person designated as a foreign adversary by the
60	59		United States secretary of commerce under 15 C.F.R. Section 791.4;
61	60		(B) an agency or entity under the control of a
62	61		country described by Paragraph (A);
63	62		(C) a person wholly or partly owned or operated
64	63		by or subject to the control of a country described by Paragraph
65	64		(A);
66	65		(D) a subsidiary or parent of a person described
67	66		by Paragraph (C);
68	67		(E) a person organized under the laws of or that
69	68		has its principal place of business in a country described by
70	69		Paragraph (A); and
71	70		(F) a subsidiary of a person described by
72	71		Paragraph (E).
73	72		(3) "Foreign adversary client" means:
74	73		(A) a current or former:
75	74		(i) official in the executive, legislative,
76	75		administrative, military, or judicial branch of a foreign
77	76		adversary;
78	77		(ii) official of a foreign adversary
79	78		political party; or
80	79		(iii) executive or officer of a foreign
81	80		adversary;
82	81		(B) a corporation, business, or other entity that
83	82		has been formed by, or for the benefit of, a person described by
84	83		Paragraph (A); and
85	84		(C) an immediate family member of a person
86	85		described by Paragraph (A), including the person's spouse, parent,
87	86		sibling, and child and a parent or sibling of the person's spouse.
88	87		(4) "Foreign adversary political party" means an
89	88		organization or a combination of individuals in the jurisdictional
90	89		limits of a foreign adversary, including a unit or branch of a
91	90		foreign adversary's government, that is engaged in an activity
92	91		wholly or partly devoted to or whose aim or purpose is to:
93	92		(A) establish, administer, control, or acquire
94	93		the administration or control of a foreign adversary or a
95	94		subdivision of a foreign adversary; or
96	95		(B) further or influence the political or public
97	96		interests, policies, or relations of a foreign adversary or a
98	97		subdivision of a foreign adversary.
99	98		(5) "Wholly or partly owned or operated" means:
100	99		(A) for a person that is a publicly traded
101	100		company, that a foreign adversary has:
102	101		(i) the ability to exercise control over
103	102		the company;
104	103		(ii) access to any material, nonpublic, and
105	104		technical information in the company's possession; or
106	105		(iii) other rights or involvement in
107	106		controlling or participating in the decision-making of the company
108	107		beyond those available to a retail investor holding an equivalent
109	108		share of ownership; and
110	109		(B) for a person that is a privately held
111	110		company, that a foreign adversary has any share of ownership of the
112	111		company.
113	112		(b) A registrant who is required to register under Section
114	113		305.003(a)(3) may not receive or agree to receive direct or
115	114		indirect compensation, including intangible or in-kind
116	115		compensation, from a foreign adversary, a foreign adversary client,
117	116		or a foreign adversary political party on whose behalf the
118	117		registrant communicates directly with one or more members of the
119	118		legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or
120	119		administrative action.
121	120		(c) The attorney general may bring an action for injunctive
122	121		relief against a registrant who violates this section or is
123	122		threatening to violate this section. In an injunction issued under
124	123		this section, a court may include reasonable requirements to
125	124		prevent further violations of this section.
126	125		(d) In addition to injunctive relief under Subsection (c),
127	126		the attorney general may bring an action for civil penalties
128	127		against a registrant who violates this section. A civil penalty
129	128		assessed under this section must be in an amount not to exceed:
130	129		(1) $10,000 for each violation; and
131	130		(2) the amount of any compensation the registrant
132	131		received in violation of this section.
133	132		(e) The attorney general may recover reasonable expenses
134	133		incurred in bringing an action under this section, including court
135	134		costs, reasonable attorney's fees, investigative costs, witness
136	135		fees, and deposition costs.
137	136		SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
138	137		conduct requiring a person to register as a lobbyist or to
139	138		compensation received by a person required to register as a
140	139		lobbyist under Chapter 305, Government Code, that occurs or is
141	140		received on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that
142	141		occurs or compensation received before the effective date of this
143	142		Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct
144	143		occurred or compensation was received, and the former law is
145	144		continued in effect for that purpose.
146	145		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.