| 1 | 1 | | 89R714 CJD-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Bonnen H.B. No. 2285 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to political advertising distributed or broadcast as part |
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| 10 | 10 | | of a mass text message campaign and civil penalties for required |
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| 11 | 11 | | disclosures on certain political advertising. |
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| 12 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Section 251.001, Election Code, is amended by |
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| 14 | 14 | | amending Subdivision (16) and adding Subdivision (22) to read as |
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| 15 | 15 | | follows: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (16) "Political advertising" means a communication |
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| 17 | 17 | | supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to a |
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| 18 | 18 | | public office or office of a political party, a political party, a |
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| 19 | 19 | | public officer, or a measure that: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (A) in return for consideration, is published in |
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| 21 | 21 | | a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical or is broadcast by radio |
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| 22 | 22 | | or television or as part of a mass text message campaign; or |
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| 23 | 23 | | (B) appears: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (i) in a pamphlet, circular, flier, |
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| 25 | 25 | | billboard or other sign, bumper sticker, or similar form of written |
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| 26 | 26 | | communication; or |
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| 27 | 27 | | (ii) on an Internet website. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (22) "Mass text message campaign" means an organized |
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| 29 | 29 | | effort in which a person sends a text message to multiple recipients |
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| 30 | 30 | | in support of or opposition to a candidate, a political party, a |
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| 31 | 31 | | public officer, or a measure and which involves an expenditure of |
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| 32 | 32 | | funds for the messages that exceed the basic cost of hardware, |
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| 33 | 33 | | messaging software, and bandwidth. |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 2. Section 255.001, Election Code, is amended by |
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| 35 | 35 | | amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as |
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| 36 | 36 | | follows: |
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| 37 | 37 | | (e) A person who violates this section is liable to the |
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| 38 | 38 | | state for a civil penalty in an amount determined by the commission |
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| 39 | 39 | | not to exceed $10,000 [$4,000]. |
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| 40 | 40 | | (f) For purposes of assessing a civil penalty under |
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| 41 | 41 | | Subsection (e), each individual text message that is distributed or |
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| 42 | 42 | | broadcast as part of a mass text message campaign in violation of |
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| 43 | 43 | | this section is a separate violation. |
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| 44 | 44 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 45 | 45 | | political advertising that is distributed or broadcast on or after |
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| 46 | 46 | | the effective date of this Act. The distribution or broadcasting of |
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| 47 | 47 | | political advertising before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 48 | 48 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the political advertising |
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| 49 | 49 | | was distributed or broadcast, and the former law is continued in |
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| 50 | 50 | | effect for that purpose. |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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