By: Wolens H.B. No. 213
73R1978 SOS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to prohibiting certain gifts from lobbyists.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 36.10(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
1-5 as follows:
1-6 (a) Sections 36.08 (Gift to Public Servant) and 36.09
1-7 (Offering Gift to Public Servant) of this code do not apply to:
1-8 (1) a fee prescribed by law to be received by a public
1-9 servant or any other benefit to which the public servant is
1-10 lawfully entitled or for which he gives legitimate consideration in
1-11 a capacity other than as a public servant;
1-12 (2) a gift or other benefit conferred on account of
1-13 kinship or a personal, professional, or business relationship
1-14 independent of the official status of the recipient;
1-15 (3) a benefit to a public servant required to file a
1-16 statement under Chapter 421, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular
1-17 Session, 1973 (Article 6252-9b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or
1-18 or a report under Title 15, Election Code, that is derived from a
1-19 function in honor or appreciation of the recipient if:
1-20 (A) the benefit and the source of any benefit in
1-21 excess of $50 is reported in the statement; and
1-22 (B) the benefit is used solely to defray the
1-23 expenses that accrue in the performance of duties or activities in
1-24 connection with the office which are nonreimbursable by the state
2-1 or political subdivision;
2-2 (4) a political contribution as defined by Title 15,
2-3 Election Code; <or>
2-4 (5) an <a gift,> award<,> or memento to a member of
2-5 the legislative or executive branch that is required to be reported
2-6 under Chapter 305, Government Code; or
2-7 (6) an expenditure or series of expenditures from a
2-8 person required to register under Chapter 305, Government Code, or
2-9 on behalf of the person with the person's consent or ratification,
2-10 to a member of the legislative or executive branch for gifts that
2-11 in the aggregate do not exceed $50 in a calendar year.
2-12 SECTION 2. Section 305.024(a), Government Code, is amended
2-13 to read as follows:
2-14 (a) Except as provided by Section 305.025, a person
2-15 registered under Section 305.005 or a person on the registrant's
2-16 behalf and with the registrant's consent or ratification may not
2-17 offer, confer, or agree to confer to a member of the legislative or
2-18 executive branch:
2-19 (1) a loan, including the guarantee or endorsement of
2-20 a loan;
2-21 (2) a gift of cash or a negotiable instrument as
2-22 described by Section 3.104, Business & Commerce Code;
2-23 (3) an expenditure for transportation and lodging;
2-24 (4) an expenditure or series of expenditures for
2-25 entertainment that in the aggregate exceed $500 in a calendar year;
2-26 (5) an expenditure or series of expenditures for gifts
2-27 that in the aggregate exceed $50 <$500> in a calendar year;
3-1 (6) an expenditure for an award or memento that
3-2 exceeds $500; or
3-3 (7) an expenditure described by Section 305.006(b)(1),
3-4 (2), (3), or (5) <(6)> unless the registrant is present at the
3-5 event.
3-6 SECTION 3. Section 305.006(b), Government Code, is amended
3-7 to read as follows:
3-8 (b) The report must contain the total expenditures under a
3-9 category listed in this subsection that the registrant made to
3-10 communicate directly with a member of the legislative or executive
3-11 branch to influence legislation or administrative action. The
3-12 report must also include expenditures for the direct communications
3-13 under a category listed in this subsection that other people made
3-14 on the registrant's behalf if the expenditures were made with the
3-15 registrant's consent or were ratified by the registrant. The
3-16 expenditures must be reported in the following categories:
3-17 (1) transportation and lodging;
3-18 (2) food and beverages;
3-19 (3) entertainment;
3-20 (4) <gifts, other than awards and mementos;>
3-21 <(5)> awards and mementos; and
3-22 (5) <(6)> expenditures made for the attendance of
3-23 members of the legislative or executive branch at political
3-24 fund-raisers or charity events.
3-25 SECTION 4. Sections 305.0061(c) and (e), Government Code,
3-26 are amended to read as follows:
3-27 (c) If a registrant or a person on the registrant's behalf
4-1 and with the registrant's consent or ratification gives to a member
4-2 of the legislative or executive branch <a gift or> an award or
4-3 memento, the value of which exceeds $50 per <gift,> award<,> or
4-4 memento, the registrant shall also state the following on the
4-5 report filed under Section 305.006:
4-6 (1) the name of the member of the legislative or
4-7 executive branch in whose behalf the expenditure is made;
4-8 (2) a general description of the <gift,> award<,> or
4-9 memento; and
4-10 (3) the amount of the expenditure by the appropriate
4-11 category of the amount, as determined by the commission.
4-12 (e) If a registrant or a person on the registrant's behalf
4-13 and with the registrant's consent or ratification makes an
4-14 expenditure for an <a gift,> award<,> or memento for a member of
4-15 the legislative or executive branch in conjunction with an
4-16 expenditure for the attendance of that member at a political
4-17 fund-raiser or charity event, the registrant shall report the
4-18 expenditure for the <gift,> award<,> or memento under Subsection
4-19 (c), if required, and not under Subsection (d).
4-20 SECTION 5. Section 305.0062(b), Government Code, is amended
4-21 to read as follows:
4-22 (b) For purposes of Subsection (a), an expenditure is
4-23 directly attributable to the person who consumed the food or
4-24 beverage, to the person for whom admission, transportation, or
4-25 lodging expenses were paid, or to the person to whom the <gift,>
4-26 award<,> or memento was given.
4-27 SECTION 6. Section 4(c), Chapter 421, Acts of the 63rd
5-1 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 6252-9b, Vernon's Texas
5-2 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
5-3 (c) The account of financial activity referred to in
5-4 Subsection (a) of this section shall consist of:
5-5 (1) a list of all sources of occupational income,
5-6 identified by employer, or if self-employed, by the nature of the
5-7 occupation, including identification of any person, business
5-8 entity, or other organization from whom the person or a business in
5-9 which he has a substantial interest received a fee as a retainer
5-10 for a claim on future services in case of need (as opposed to a fee
5-11 for services on a matter specified at the time of contracting for
5-12 or receiving the fee), whenever professional or occupational
5-13 services were not actually performed during the reporting period
5-14 commensurate to or in excess of the amount of the retainer, and the
5-15 category of the amount of the fee;
5-16 (2) identification by name and category of number of
5-17 shares of stock of any business entity held or acquired, and if
5-18 sold the category of the amount of net gain or loss realized from
5-19 such sale;
5-20 (3) a list of all bonds, notes, and other commercial
5-21 paper held or acquired, and if sold the category of the amount of
5-22 net gain or loss realized from such sale;
5-23 (4) identification of each source and the category of
5-24 the amount of income in excess of $500 derived per source from
5-25 interest, dividends, royalties, and rents;
5-26 (5) identification of each guarantor of a loan and
5-27 identification of each person or financial institution to whom a
6-1 personal note or notes or lease agreement for a total financial
6-2 liability in excess of $1,000 existed at any time during the year,
6-3 and the category of the amount of the liability;
6-4 (6) identification by description of all beneficial
6-5 interests in real property and business entities held or acquired,
6-6 and if sold the category of the amount of the net gain or loss
6-7 realized from such sale;
6-8 (7) identification of any person, business entity, or
6-9 other organization from whom the person or his spouse or dependent
6-10 children received a gift of anything of value in excess of $250 in
6-11 value and a description of each gift, except:
6-12 (A) gifts received from persons related to the
6-13 person at any time within the second degree of consanguinity or
6-14 affinity, as determined under Article 5996h, Revised Statutes; or
6-15 (B) political contributions that were reported
6-16 as required by law<; and>
6-17 <(C) expenditures required to be reported by a
6-18 person required to be registered under Chapter 305, Government
6-19 Code>;
6-20 (8) identification of the source and the category of
6-21 the amount of all income received as beneficiary of a trust and
6-22 identification of each asset, if known to the beneficiary, from
6-23 which income was received by the beneficiary in excess of $500;
6-24 (9) identification by description and category of the
6-25 amount of all assets and liabilities of any corporation or
6-26 partnership in which 50 percent or more of the outstanding
6-27 ownership was held, acquired, or sold;
7-1 (10) a list of all boards of directors of which the
7-2 person is a member and executive positions which the person holds
7-3 in corporations, firms, partnerships, and proprietorships, stating
7-4 the name of each corporation, firm, partnership, or proprietorship
7-5 and the position held;
7-6 (11) identification of any person providing
7-7 transportation, meals, or lodging expenses permitted under Section
7-8 36.07(b), Penal Code, and the amount of those expenses, other than
7-9 expenditures required to be reported under Chapter 305, Government
7-10 Code; and
7-11 (12) any partnership, joint venture, or other business
7-12 association, excluding a publicly held corporation, in which both
7-13 the state officer and a person registered under Chapter 305,
7-14 Government Code, have an interest.
7-15 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 1994, and
7-16 applies only to a gift offered, made, received, or accepted on or
7-17 after that date. A gift offered, made, received, or accepted
7-18 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
7-19 effect on the date that it was offered, made, received, or
7-20 accepted, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
7-21 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
7-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.