By: Creighton S.B. No. 3014
(In the Senate - Filed March 14, 2025; April 7, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 16, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 1; April 16, 2025,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 3014 By: Hall
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of technical and clerical errors
contained in registrations and reports filed with the Texas Ethics
Commission and the commission's authority regarding the imposition
of certain penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 571.0631, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 571.0631. RULES CONCERNING TECHNICAL AND CLERICAL
ERRORS [VIOLATIONS]. (a) The commission shall adopt rules
prescribing procedures for [investigating and] resolving technical
and clerical errors contained in [violations of laws within the
commission's jurisdiction. For] registrations and reports filed
under laws within the commission's jurisdiction [Chapter 305, the
commission shall consider clerical violations to include obvious
typographical errors]. The rules must clearly outline:
(1) the types of errors that constitute a technical or
clerical error; and
(2) the time and manner for correcting a technical or
clerical error.
(b) A registrant filing a registration or report shall
[under Chapter 305 may] correct obvious typographical errors
[without penalty] by filing either a corrected registration or
report or an updated or amended registration or report.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission may not
assess a penalty or fine against a person who files a registration
or report that contains a technical or clerical error based solely
on the error.
SECTION 2. Section 571.173, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 571.173. CIVIL PENALTY FOR DELAY OR VIOLATION. (a)
The commission may impose a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 or
triple the amount at issue under a law administered and enforced by
the commission, whichever amount is more, for a delay in complying
with a commission order or for a violation of a law administered and
enforced by the commission.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission may only
impose a civil penalty for a violation of a law administered and
enforced by the commission if the violation is committed knowingly.
For purposes of this subsection, a violation is presumed to have not
been committed knowingly if the amount at issue is less than $500.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 571.1731, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 571.1731. WAIVER OR REDUCTION OF [LATE FILING]
PENALTY.
SECTION 4. Section 571.1731(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person may request the waiver or reduction of a civil
penalty [under Section 305.033(b) or 572.033(b) of this code or
Section 254.042(b), Election Code,] by submitting an affidavit to
the executive director that states the filer's reasons for
requesting a waiver or reduction.
SECTION 5. Sections 572.033(a) and (b), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall determine from any available
evidence whether a statement required to be filed under this
subchapter is late. On making a determination that the statement is
late, the commission shall immediately mail a notice of the
determination to the individual responsible for filing the
statement [and to the appropriate attorney for the state].
(b) If a statement is determined to be late, the individual
responsible for filing the statement is liable to the state for a
civil penalty of $500. [If a statement is more than 30 days late,
the commission shall issue a warning of liability by registered
mail to the individual responsible for the filing. If the penalty
is not paid before the 10th day after the date on which the warning
is received, the individual is liable for a civil penalty in an
amount determined by commission rule, but not to exceed $10,000.]
SECTION 6. Section 572.034(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) An individual commits an offense if the individual is a
state officer or candidate or state party chair and knowingly and
wilfully fails to file a financial statement as required by this
subchapter on three separate occasions.
SECTION 7. The following provisions of the Government Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 571.079;
(2) Section 572.007; and
(3) Section 572.033(c).
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a registration, report, or statement that is required to be filed
with the Texas Ethics Commission on or after the effective date of
this Act. A registration, report, or statement that is required to
be filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the registration, report, or statement is
required to be filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
conduct constituting a violation of a law administered and enforced
by the Texas Ethics Commission that occurs on or after the effective
date of this Act. Conduct constituting a violation of a law
administered and enforced by the commission that occurs before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the conduct occurs, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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