Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4960 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
	1	+	89R714 CJD-D
1	2		By: Phelan H.B. No. 4960
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6	7		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	8		AN ACT
8	9		relating to political advertising distributed or broadcast as part
9	10		of a mass text message campaign and civil penalties for required
10	11		disclosures on certain political advertising.
11	12		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	13		SECTION 1. Section 251.001, Election Code, is amended by
13	14		amending Subdivision (16) and adding Subdivision (22) to read as
14	15		follows:
15	16		(16) "Political advertising" means a communication
16	17		supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to a
17	18		public office or office of a political party, a political party, a
18	19		public officer, or a measure that:
19	20		(A) in return for consideration, is published in
20	21		a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical or is broadcast by radio
21	22		or television or as part of a mass text message campaign; or
22	23		(B) appears:
23	24		(i) in a pamphlet, circular, flier,
24	25		billboard or other sign, bumper sticker, or similar form of written
25	26		communication; or
26	27		(ii) on an Internet website.
27	28		(22) "Mass text message campaign" means an organized
28	29		effort in which a person sends a text message to multiple recipients
29	30		in support of or opposition to a candidate, a political party, a
30	31		public officer, or a measure and which involves an expenditure of
31	32		funds for the messages that exceed the basic cost of hardware,
32	33		messaging software, and bandwidth.
33	34		SECTION 2. Section 255.001, Election Code, is amended by
34		-	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
	35	+	amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
	36	+	follows:
	37	+	(e) A person who violates this section is liable to the
	38	+	state for a civil penalty in an amount determined by the commission
	39	+	not to exceed $10,000 [$4,000].
35	40		(f) For purposes of assessing a civil penalty under
36		-	Subsection (e), ~~all~~ text ~~messages~~ that ~~are~~ distributed or ~~broadcast~~
37		-	as part of a ~~single~~ mass text message campaign ~~that violates this~~
38		-	~~section constitute only one violation of~~ this section.
	41	+	Subsection (e), each individual text message that is distributed or
	42	+	broadcast as part of a mass text message campaign in violation of
	43	+	this section is a separate violation.
39	44		SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
40	45		political advertising that is distributed or broadcast on or after
41	46		the effective date of this Act. The distribution or broadcasting of
42	47		political advertising before the effective date of this Act is
43	48		governed by the law in effect on the date the political advertising
44	49		was distributed or broadcast, and the former law is continued in
45	50		effect for that purpose.
46	51		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.