Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3615 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R13955 CJD-D
2	2	By: Schatzline H.B. No. 3615
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6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the use by certain public entities of public funds for
10	10	lobbying and certain other activities.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 556, Government Code, is amended by
13	13	adding Section 556.0056 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 556.0056. RESTRICTION ON USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY
15	15	CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTITIES FOR LOBBYING ACTIVITIES. (a) This section
16	16	applies only to the following public entities:
17	17	(1) a political subdivision that imposes a tax;
18	18	(2) a political subdivision or special district that
19	19	is authorized to issue bonds, including revenue bonds;
20	20	(3) a regional mobility authority;
21	21	(4) a transit authority;
22	22	(5) a regional tollway authority;
23	23	(6) a special purpose district, including a municipal
24	24	utility district and a municipal management district;
25	25	(7) a public institution of higher education;
26	26	(8) a community college district;
27	27	(9) a publicly owned utility; and
28	28	(10) a river authority or water supply corporation.
29	29	(b) A public entity may not spend public funds:
30	30	(1) to hire or contract with an individual required to
31	31	register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 for the purpose of lobbying
32	32	a member of the legislature; or
33	33	(2) to pay a nonprofit state association or
34	34	organization that:
35	35	(A) primarily represents public entities; and
36	36	(B) hires or contracts with an individual
37	37	required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305.
38	38	(c) Subsection (b) does not prohibit:
39	39	(1) an officer or employee of a public entity from
40	40	providing information for a member of the legislature or appearing
41	41	before a legislative committee;
42	42	(2) an elected officer of a public entity from
43	43	advocating for or against or otherwise influencing or attempting to
44	44	influence the outcome of legislation pending before the legislature
45	45	while acting as an officer of the public entity;
46	46	(3) an employee of a public entity from advocating for
47	47	or against or otherwise influencing or attempting to influence the
48	48	outcome of legislation pending before the legislature if those
49	49	actions would not require a person to register as a lobbyist under
50	50	Chapter 305;
51	51	(4) a public entity from reimbursing an officer or
52	52	full-time employee of the public entity for direct travel expenses
53	53	incurred by the officer or employee for engaging in an activity
54	54	described by Subdivision (1), (2), or (3); or
55	55	(5) a full-time employee of a nonprofit state
56	56	association or organization that primarily represents public
57	57	entities from:
58	58	(A) providing legislative services related to
59	59	bill tracking, bill analysis, and legislative alerts;
60	60	(B) communicating directly with a member of the
61	61	legislature to provide information if the communication would not
62	62	require a person to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305; or
63	63	(C) testifying for or against legislation before
64	64	the legislature.
65	65	(d) If a public entity engages in an activity prohibited by
66	66	Subsection (b), a taxpayer or resident of the public entity, or a
67	67	person receiving services from the entity, is entitled to
68	68	appropriate injunctive relief to prevent further activity
69	69	prohibited by that subsection and further payment of public funds
70	70	related to that activity.
71	71	(e) A taxpayer, resident, or other person who prevails in an
72	72	action under Subsection (d) is entitled to recover from the public
73	73	entity reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in bringing
74	74	the action.
75	75	(f) A public entity that violates this section may not
76	76	receive state funds until the second anniversary of the date the
77	77	violation occurred.
78	78	SECTION 2. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, is
79	79	amended to read as follows:
80	80	Sec. 89.002. STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES. (a) Except as
81	81	provided by Section 556.0056, Government Code, the [The]
82	82	commissioners court may spend, in the name of the county, money from
83	83	the county's general fund for membership fees and dues of a
84	84	nonprofit state association of counties if:
85	85	(1) a majority of the court votes to approve
86	86	membership in the association;
87	87	(2) the association exists for the betterment of
88	88	county government and the benefit of all county officials;
89	89	(3) the association is not affiliated with a labor
90	90	organization; and
91	91	(4) [neither the association nor an employee of the
92	92	association directly or indirectly influences or attempts to
93	93	influence the outcome of any legislation pending before the
94	94	legislature, except that this subdivision does not prevent a person
95	95	from providing information for a member of the legislature or
96	96	appearing before a legislative committee at the request of the
97	97	committee or the member of the legislature; and
98	98	[(5)] neither the association nor an employee of the
99	99	association directly or indirectly contributes any money,
100	100	services, or other valuable thing to a political campaign or
101	101	endorses a candidate or group of candidates for public office.
102	102	(b) If any association or organization supported wholly or
103	103	partly by payments of tax receipts from political subdivisions
104	104	engages in an activity described by Subsection (a)(4) [or (5)], a
105	105	taxpayer of a political subdivision that pays fees or dues to the
106	106	association or organization is entitled to appropriate injunctive
107	107	relief to prevent any further activity described by Subsection
108	108	(a)(4) [or (5)] or any further payments of fees or dues.
109	109	SECTION 3. Section 556.0056, Government Code, as added by
110	110	this Act, applies only to an expenditure or payment of public funds
111	111	by a public entity that is made on or after the effective date of
112	112	this Act, including an expenditure or payment of public funds by a
113	113	public entity that is made under a contract entered into before, on,
114	114	or after the effective date of this Act. A contract term providing
115	115	for an expenditure or payment prohibited by Section 556.0056,
116	116	Government Code, as added by this Act, is void on the effective date
117	117	of this Act.
118	118	SECTION 4. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, as
119	119	amended by this Act, applies only to the spending of money by a
120	120	county from the county's general fund that occurs on or after the
121	121	effective date of this Act. The spending of money by a county from
122	122	the county's general fund that occurs before the effective date of
123	123	this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
124	124	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
125	125	that purpose.
126	126	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.