89R13955 CJD-D
By: Schatzline H.B. No. 3615
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use by certain public entities of public funds for
lobbying and certain other activities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 556, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 556.0056 to read as follows:
Sec. 556.0056. RESTRICTION ON USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY
CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTITIES FOR LOBBYING ACTIVITIES. (a) This section
applies only to the following public entities:
(1) a political subdivision that imposes a tax;
(2) a political subdivision or special district that
is authorized to issue bonds, including revenue bonds;
(3) a regional mobility authority;
(4) a transit authority;
(5) a regional tollway authority;
(6) a special purpose district, including a municipal
utility district and a municipal management district;
(7) a public institution of higher education;
(8) a community college district;
(9) a publicly owned utility; and
(10) a river authority or water supply corporation.
(b) A public entity may not spend public funds:
(1) to hire or contract with an individual required to
register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 for the purpose of lobbying
a member of the legislature; or
(2) to pay a nonprofit state association or
organization that:
(A) primarily represents public entities; and
(B) hires or contracts with an individual
required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305.
(c) Subsection (b) does not prohibit:
(1) an officer or employee of a public entity from
providing information for a member of the legislature or appearing
before a legislative committee;
(2) an elected officer of a public entity from
advocating for or against or otherwise influencing or attempting to
influence the outcome of legislation pending before the legislature
while acting as an officer of the public entity;
(3) an employee of a public entity from advocating for
or against or otherwise influencing or attempting to influence the
outcome of legislation pending before the legislature if those
actions would not require a person to register as a lobbyist under
Chapter 305;
(4) a public entity from reimbursing an officer or
full-time employee of the public entity for direct travel expenses
incurred by the officer or employee for engaging in an activity
described by Subdivision (1), (2), or (3); or
(5) a full-time employee of a nonprofit state
association or organization that primarily represents public
entities from:
(A) providing legislative services related to
bill tracking, bill analysis, and legislative alerts;
(B) communicating directly with a member of the
legislature to provide information if the communication would not
require a person to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305; or
(C) testifying for or against legislation before
the legislature.
(d) If a public entity engages in an activity prohibited by
Subsection (b), a taxpayer or resident of the public entity, or a
person receiving services from the entity, is entitled to
appropriate injunctive relief to prevent further activity
prohibited by that subsection and further payment of public funds
related to that activity.
(e) A taxpayer, resident, or other person who prevails in an
action under Subsection (d) is entitled to recover from the public
entity reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in bringing
the action.
(f) A public entity that violates this section may not
receive state funds until the second anniversary of the date the
violation occurred.
SECTION 2. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 89.002. STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES. (a) Except as
provided by Section 556.0056, Government Code, the [The]
commissioners court may spend, in the name of the county, money from
the county's general fund for membership fees and dues of a
nonprofit state association of counties if:
(1) a majority of the court votes to approve
membership in the association;
(2) the association exists for the betterment of
county government and the benefit of all county officials;
(3) the association is not affiliated with a labor
organization; and
(4) [neither the association nor an employee of the
association directly or indirectly influences or attempts to
influence the outcome of any legislation pending before the
legislature, except that this subdivision does not prevent a person
from providing information for a member of the legislature or
appearing before a legislative committee at the request of the
committee or the member of the legislature; and
[(5)] neither the association nor an employee of the
association directly or indirectly contributes any money,
services, or other valuable thing to a political campaign or
endorses a candidate or group of candidates for public office.
(b) If any association or organization supported wholly or
partly by payments of tax receipts from political subdivisions
engages in an activity described by Subsection (a)(4) [or (5)], a
taxpayer of a political subdivision that pays fees or dues to the
association or organization is entitled to appropriate injunctive
relief to prevent any further activity described by Subsection
(a)(4) [or (5)] or any further payments of fees or dues.
SECTION 3. Section 556.0056, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to an expenditure or payment of public funds
by a public entity that is made on or after the effective date of
this Act, including an expenditure or payment of public funds by a
public entity that is made under a contract entered into before, on,
or after the effective date of this Act. A contract term providing
for an expenditure or payment prohibited by Section 556.0056,
Government Code, as added by this Act, is void on the effective date
of this Act.
SECTION 4. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to the spending of money by a
county from the county's general fund that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. The spending of money by a county from
the county's general fund that occurs before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.