Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB571 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R1177 CJD-F
2	2	By: Cain H.B. No. 571
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the use by a political subdivision 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	POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS FOR LOBBYING ACTIVITIES. (a) Except as
16	16	otherwise provided by this section, a political subdivision may not
17	17	spend public funds:
18	18	(1) to hire an individual required to register as a
19	19	lobbyist under Chapter 305 for the purpose of lobbying a member of
20	20	the legislature; or
21	21	(2) to pay a nonprofit state association or
22	22	organization that:
23	23	(A) primarily represents political subdivisions;
24	24	and
25	25	(B) hires or contracts with an individual
26	26	required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305.
27	27	(b) If a political subdivision engages in an activity
28	28	prohibited by Subsection (a), a taxpayer or resident of the
29	29	political subdivision is entitled to appropriate injunctive relief
30	30	to prevent further activity prohibited by that subsection and
31	31	further payment of public funds related to that activity.
32	32	(c) A taxpayer or resident who prevails in an action under
33	33	Subsection (b) is entitled to recover from the political
34	34	subdivision the taxpayer's or resident's reasonable attorney's fees
35	35	and costs incurred in bringing the action.
36	36	(d) This section does not prohibit:
37	37	(1) a county or municipality from spending public
38	38	funds to compensate or contract with an individual required to
39	39	register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 for the purpose of
40	40	influencing or attempting to influence the outcome of legislation
41	41	related to the military, military service members, or military
42	42	veterans; or
43	43	(2) a full-time employee of a nonprofit state
44	44	association or organization that primarily represents political
45	45	subdivisions of this state from:
46	46	(A) providing legislative services, including
47	47	services related to bill tracking, bill analysis, and legislative
48	48	alerts;
49	49	(B) communicating directly with a member of the
50	50	legislature to provide information; or
51	51	(C) testifying for or against legislation before
52	52	a legislative committee.
53	53	SECTION 2. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, is
54	54	amended to read as follows:
55	55	Sec. 89.002. STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES. (a) Except as
56	56	provided by Section 556.0056, Government Code, the [The]
57	57	commissioners court may spend, in the name of the county, money from
58	58	the county's general fund for membership fees and dues of a
59	59	nonprofit state association of counties if:
60	60	(1) a majority of the court votes to approve
61	61	membership in the association;
62	62	(2) the association exists for the betterment of
63	63	county government and the benefit of all county officials;
64	64	(3) the association is not affiliated with a labor
65	65	organization; and
66	66	(4) [neither the association nor an employee of the
67	67	association directly or indirectly influences or attempts to
68	68	influence the outcome of any legislation pending before the
69	69	legislature, except that this subdivision does not prevent a person
70	70	from providing information for a member of the legislature or
71	71	appearing before a legislative committee at the request of the
72	72	committee or the member of the legislature; and
73	73	[(5)] neither the association nor an employee of the
74	74	association directly or indirectly contributes any money,
75	75	services, or other valuable thing to a political campaign or
76	76	endorses a candidate or group of candidates for public office.
77	77	(b) If any association or organization supported wholly or
78	78	partly by payments of tax receipts from political subdivisions
79	79	engages in an activity described by Subsection (a)(4) [or (5)], a
80	80	taxpayer of a political subdivision that pays fees or dues to the
81	81	association or organization is entitled to appropriate injunctive
82	82	relief to prevent any further activity described by Subsection
83	83	(a)(4) [or (5)] or any further payments of fees or dues.
84	84	SECTION 3. Section 556.0056, Government Code, as added by
85	85	this Act, applies only to an expenditure or payment of public funds
86	86	by a political subdivision that is made on or after the effective
87	87	date of this Act, including an expenditure or payment of public
88	88	funds by a political subdivision that is made under a contract
89	89	entered into before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. A
90	90	contract term providing for an expenditure or payment prohibited by
91	91	Section 556.0056, Government Code, as added by this Act, is void on
92	92	the effective date of this Act.
93	93	SECTION 4. Section 89.002, Local Government Code, as
94	94	amended by this Act, applies only to the spending of money by a
95	95	county from the county's general fund that occurs on or after the
96	96	effective date of this Act. The spending of money by a county from
97	97	the county's general fund that occurs before the effective date of
98	98	this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
99	99	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
100	100	that purpose.
101	101	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.