Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1845 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Hughes, Campbell S.B. No. 1845
2		-	(In the Senate - Filed March 4, 2025; March 13, 2025, read
3		-	first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
4		-	April 14, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
5		-	Nays 0; April 14, 2025, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	89R14789 CJD-F
	2	+	By: Hughes S.B. No. 1845
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11	7		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
12	8		AN ACT
13	9		relating to the registration as a lobbyist of persons who engage in
14	10		certain lobbying activities on behalf of a foreign adversary and to
15	11		prohibitions on the receipt of compensation related to those
16	12		lobbying activities; providing a civil penalty.
17	13		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
18	14		SECTION 1. Section 305.003(a), Government Code, is amended
19	15		to read as follows:
20	16		(a) A person must register with the commission under this
21	17		chapter if the person:
22	18		(1) makes a total expenditure of an amount determined
23	19		by commission rule but not less than $200 in a calendar quarter, not
24	20		including the person's own travel, food, or lodging expenses or the
25	21		person's own membership dues, on activities described in Section
26	22		305.006(b) to communicate directly with one or more members of the
27	23		legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or
28	24		administrative action; [or]
29	25		(2) receives, or is entitled to receive under an
30	26		agreement under which the person is retained or employed,
31	27		compensation or reimbursement, not including reimbursement for the
32	28		person's own travel, food, or lodging expenses or the person's own
33	29		membership dues, of more than an amount determined by commission
34	30		rule but not less than $200 in a calendar quarter from another
35	31		person to communicate directly with a member of the legislative or
36	32		executive branch to influence legislation or administrative
37	33		action; or
38	34		(3) communicates directly with one or more members of
39	35		the legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or
40	36		administrative action on behalf of a foreign adversary, a foreign
41	37		adversary client, or a foreign adversary political party, as those
42	38		terms are defined by Section 305.030.
43	39		SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 305, Government Code, is
44	40		amended by adding Section 305.030 to read as follows:
45	41		Sec. 305.030. COMPENSATION FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY AND
46	42		RELATED PERSONS PROHIBITED; CIVIL ENFORCEMENT. (a) In this
47	43		section:
48	44		(1) "Control" means the direct or indirect power to
49	45		determine, direct, dictate, or decide important matters affecting
50	46		an entity, including through:
51	47		(A) the ownership of at least 20 percent of the
52	48		total outstanding voting interest in an entity;
53	49		(B) board representation;
54	50		(C) the ability to appoint or discharge a board
55	51		member, officer, director, employee, or contractor;
56	52		(D) proxy voting, a special share, a contractual
57	53		arrangement, a legal obligation, or a formal or informal
58	54		arrangement to act in concert; or
59	55		(E) another means of exercising power.
60	56		(2) "Foreign adversary" means:
61	57		(A) a foreign government or foreign
62	58		nongovernment person designated as a foreign adversary by the
63	59		United States secretary of commerce under 15 C.F.R. Section 791.4;
64	60		(B) an agency or entity under the control of a
65	61		country described by Paragraph (A);
66	62		(C) a person wholly or partly owned or operated
67	63		by or subject to the control of a country described by Paragraph
68	64		(A);
69	65		(D) a subsidiary or parent of a person described
70	66		by Paragraph (C);
71	67		(E) a person organized under the laws of or that
72	68		has its principal place of business in a country described by
73	69		Paragraph (A); and
74	70		(F) a subsidiary of a person described by
75	71		Paragraph (E).
76	72		(3) "Foreign adversary client" means:
77	73		(A) a current or former:
78	74		(i) official in the executive, legislative,
79	75		administrative, military, or judicial branch of a foreign
80	76		adversary;
81	77		(ii) official of a foreign adversary
82	78		political party; or
83	79		(iii) executive or officer of a foreign
84	80		adversary;
85	81		(B) a corporation, business, or other entity that
86	82		has been formed by, or for the benefit of, a person described by
87	83		Paragraph (A); and
88	84		(C) an immediate family member of a person
89	85		described by Paragraph (A), including the person's spouse, parent,
90	86		sibling, and child and a parent or sibling of the person's spouse.
91	87		(4) "Foreign adversary political party" means an
92	88		organization or a combination of individuals in the jurisdictional
93	89		limits of a foreign adversary, including a unit or branch of a
94	90		foreign adversary's government, that is engaged in an activity
95	91		wholly or partly devoted to or whose aim or purpose is to:
96	92		(A) establish, administer, control, or acquire
97	93		the administration or control of a foreign adversary or a
98	94		subdivision of a foreign adversary; or
99	95		(B) further or influence the political or public
100	96		interests, policies, or relations of a foreign adversary or a
101	97		subdivision of a foreign adversary.
102	98		(5) "Wholly or partly owned or operated" means:
103	99		(A) for a person that is a publicly traded
104	100		company, that a foreign adversary has:
105	101		(i) the ability to exercise control over
106	102		the company;
107	103		(ii) access to any material, nonpublic, and
108	104		technical information in the company's possession; or
109	105		(iii) other rights or involvement in
110	106		controlling or participating in the decision-making of the company
111	107		beyond those available to a retail investor holding an equivalent
112	108		share of ownership; and
113	109		(B) for a person that is a privately held
114	110		company, that a foreign adversary has any share of ownership of the
115	111		company.
116	112		(b) A registrant who is required to register under Section
117	113		305.003(a)(3) may not receive or agree to receive direct or
118	114		indirect compensation, including intangible or in-kind
119	115		compensation, from a foreign adversary, a foreign adversary client,
120	116		or a foreign adversary political party on whose behalf the
121	117		registrant communicates directly with one or more members of the
122	118		legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or
123	119		administrative action.
124	120		(c) The attorney general may bring an action for injunctive
125	121		relief against a registrant who violates this section or is
126	122		threatening to violate this section. In an injunction issued under
127	123		this section, a court may include reasonable requirements to
128	124		prevent further violations of this section.
129	125		(d) In addition to injunctive relief under Subsection (c),
130	126		the attorney general may bring an action for civil penalties
131	127		against a registrant who violates this section. A civil penalty
132	128		assessed under this section must be in an amount not to exceed:
133	129		(1) $10,000 for each violation; and
134	130		(2) the amount of any compensation the registrant
135	131		received in violation of this section.
136	132		(e) The attorney general may recover reasonable expenses
137	133		incurred in bringing an action under this section, including court
138	134		costs, reasonable attorney's fees, investigative costs, witness
139	135		fees, and deposition costs.
140	136		SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
141	137		conduct requiring a person to register as a lobbyist or to
142	138		compensation received by a person required to register as a
143	139		lobbyist under Chapter 305, Government Code, that occurs or is
144	140		received on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that
145	141		occurs or compensation received before the effective date of this
146	142		Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct
147	143		occurred or compensation was received, and the former law is
148	144		continued in effect for that purpose.
149	145		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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