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Senate Bill 2085 |
Senate Author: Davis, Wendy |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
House Sponsor: Hancock |
Senate Bill 2085 amends the Election Code to specify that the prohibition against an officer or employee of a political subdivision spending or authorizing the spending of public funds for political advertising applies only to such an action that is performed knowingly. The bill makes it an affirmative defense to prosecution or the imposition of a civil penalty for such an offense that an officer or employee of a political subdivision reasonably relied on a court order or an interpretation of this provision in a written opinion issued by a court of record, the attorney general, or the Texas Ethics Commission. The bill requires the commission, on written request of the governing body of a political subdivision that has ordered an election on a measure, to prepare an advance written advisory opinion on whether a particular communication relating to the measure complies with this provision. The bill exempts a port authority or navigation district from the provisions providing an affirmative defense to prosecution and requiring an advance written advisory opinion. The bill makes its provisions applicable to the prosecution of conduct committed before, on, or after September 1, 2009, if a judgment has not been entered or a sentence imposed or if an appeal is pending or the time for appeal has not expired.