Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5111 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9262 CJD-F
2	2	By: Darby H.B. No. 5111
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the regulation of campaign treasurer appointments and
10	10	related matters and the content of and posting of information
11	11	contained in a campaign treasurer appointment; providing a civil
12	12	penalty.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Chapter 252, Election Code, is amended by adding
15	15	Section 252.0015 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 252.0015. CAMPAIGN TREASURER APPOINTMENT ELIGIBILITY.
17	17	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person is eligible for
18	18	appointment as a campaign treasurer if the person is:
19	19	(1) 18 years of age or older; and
20	20	(2) a legal resident of this state.
21	21	(b) A person is not eligible for appointment as a campaign
22	22	treasurer if:
23	23	(1) the person is currently the campaign treasurer for
24	24	a candidate or political committee;
25	25	(2) the person has been convicted of an offense under
26	26	Chapter 276;
27	27	(3) the commission has made a determination during the
28	28	five-year period preceding the date of the person's appointment
29	29	that the person committed a Category One violation or a Category Two
30	30	violation, as those terms are defined by Section 571.1211,
31	31	Government Code;
32	32	(4) the person is required to register as a lobbyist
33	33	under Chapter 305, Government Code;
34	34	(5) the person is an employee of or contracted by a
35	35	political committee; or
36	36	(6) the person is a candidate and the appointment is
37	37	for a political committee.
38	38	(c) For purposes of this title, a candidate or political
39	39	committee that appoints a person as a campaign treasurer who is
40	40	ineligible for appointment under Subsection (b) at the time of
41	41	appointment is considered to not have a campaign treasurer
42	42	appointment in effect.
43	43	(d) If the commission receives notice that a candidate's or
44	44	political committee's campaign treasurer was ineligible under
45	45	Subsection (b) at the time of the appointment or became ineligible
46	46	under that subsection after the appointment, the commission shall
47	47	conduct an investigation to determine whether the campaign
48	48	treasurer is ineligible for appointment. If the commission
49	49	determines that a campaign treasurer is ineligible for appointment,
50	50	the commission shall provide notice of that determination to the
51	51	campaign treasurer and the candidate or political committee as soon
52	52	as practicable after making the determination.
53	53	(e) A candidate or political committee shall appoint a new
54	54	campaign treasurer as provided by this chapter not later than the
55	55	14th business day after the date:
56	56	(1) the candidate or political committee becomes aware
57	57	that the candidate's or political committee's campaign treasurer
58	58	became ineligible under Subsection (b) after the appointment; or
59	59	(2) the candidate or political committee receives
60	60	notice under Subsection (d) that the candidate's or political
61	61	committee's campaign treasurer is ineligible.
62	62	(f) A candidate or political committee that violates this
63	63	section is liable for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed
64	64	three times the amount of political contributions the candidate or
65	65	political committee accepted during the period the candidate or
66	66	political committee was in violation of this section.
67	67	(g) Subsections (b)(2), (3), (4), and (5) do not apply to a
68	68	person who is a candidate and who appoints the person as the
69	69	person's own campaign treasurer under Section 252.004.
70	70	SECTION 2. Section 252.002, Election Code, is amended to
71	71	read as follows:
72	72	Sec. 252.002. CONTENTS OF APPOINTMENT. (a) A campaign
73	73	treasurer appointment must be in writing and include:
74	74	(1) the campaign treasurer's name;
75	75	(1-a) the campaign treasurer's date of birth;
76	76	(2) the campaign treasurer's residence [or business
77	77	street] address;
78	78	(3) the campaign treasurer's telephone number and
79	79	e-mail address;
80	80	(3-a) the campaign treasurer's driver's license
81	81	number, state identification card number, or social security
82	82	number; [and]
83	83	(4) the name of the person making the appointment; and
84	84	(5) an affidavit signed by the person making the
85	85	appointment that the campaign treasurer is not ineligible for
86	86	appointment under Section 252.0015.
87	87	(b) A candidate or political committee that files its
88	88	campaign treasurer appointment with the commission must notify the
89	89	commission in writing of any change in the campaign treasurer's
90	90	residence address not later than the 10th business day after the
91	91	date on which the change occurs.
92	92	SECTION 3. Section 252.0031(b), Election Code, is amended
93	93	to read as follows:
94	94	(b) The name of a specific-purpose committee for supporting
95	95	or opposing a candidate for an office specified by Section
96	96	252.005(1) must include the name of the candidate that the
97	97	committee supports or opposes.
98	98	SECTION 4. Section 252.015(c), Election Code, is amended to
99	99	read as follows:
100	100	(c) Sections 252.0015, 252.011, 252.012, 252.013, and
101	101	252.014 apply to the appointment and removal of an assistant
102	102	campaign treasurer.
103	103	SECTION 5. Section 254.0401, Election Code, is amended by
104	104	adding Subsection (e-2) to read as follows:
105	105	(e-2) Before making a report filed under this chapter
106	106	available on the Internet, the commission or authority with whom
107	107	the report is filed must remove the following information:
108	108	(1) the campaign treasurer's date of birth, other than
109	109	year;
110	110	(2) the campaign treasurer's residence address, other
111	111	than city, state, and zip code; and
112	112	(3) the campaign treasurer's driver's license number,
113	113	state identification card number, or social security number.
114	114	SECTION 6. Section 252.0011, Election Code, is repealed.
115	115	SECTION 7. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
116	116	date of this Act but not later than January 1, 2026, the Texas
117	117	Ethics Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement the
118	118	changes in law made by this Act.
119	119	(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 252,
120	120	Election Code, apply only to a campaign treasurer appointment made
121	121	on or after January 1, 2026. A campaign treasurer appointment made
122	122	before January 1, 2026, is governed by the law in effect on the date
123	123	the appointment was made, and the former law is continued in effect
124	124	for that purpose.
125	125	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.