1-1 By: Armbrister S.B. No. 277
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 20, 1995; January 23, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 February 23, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas
1-5 8, Nays 3; February 23, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the eligibility of a person who has served as a member
1-9 of the United States Senate or House of Representatives to be a
1-10 candidate for the same office.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Title 9, Election Code, is amended by adding
1-13 Chapter 147 to read as follows:
1-14 CHAPTER 147. CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES CONGRESS
1-15 Sec. 147.001. CERTAIN PERSONS INELIGIBLE AS CANDIDATE TO
1-16 UNITED STATES SENATE. A person is not eligible to be a candidate
1-17 in any election for the office of United States senator if the
1-18 person is serving as a member of the United States Senate and, at
1-19 the end of the term the person is serving, the person will have
1-20 served, if the person completes the term, all of two consecutive
1-21 six-year terms as a United States senator.
1-22 Sec. 147.002. CERTAIN PERSONS INELIGIBLE AS CANDIDATE TO
1-23 UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. A person is not eligible
1-24 to be a candidate in any election for the office of United States
1-25 representative if the person is serving as a member of the United
1-26 States House of Representatives and, at the end of the term the
1-27 person is serving, the person will have served, if the person
1-28 completes the term, all of three consecutive two-year terms as a
1-29 United States representative.
1-30 Sec. 147.003. WRITE-IN CANDIDACY PERMITTED. Sections
1-31 147.001 and 147.002 do not make a person ineligible to be a
1-32 write-in candidate under Chapter 146 in any election for the office
1-33 of United States senator or United States representative.
1-34 Sec. 147.004. EFFECTIVE DATES. (a) Section 147.001 takes
1-35 effect on the date the secretary of state makes a certification to
1-36 the governor under Subsection (d), unless that date occurs during
1-37 the period that begins on the earliest date that a person may file
1-38 an application for a place on a general primary election ballot and
1-39 the date of the subsequent general election, in which event Section
1-40 147.001 takes effect on the next January 1 following that general
1-41 election.
1-42 (b) Section 147.002 takes effect on the date the secretary
1-43 of state makes a certification to the governor under Subsection
1-44 (e), unless that date occurs during the period that begins on the
1-45 earliest date that a person may file an application for a place on
1-46 a general primary election ballot and the date of the subsequent
1-47 general election, in which event Section 147.002 takes effect on
1-48 the next January 1 following that general election.
1-49 (c) The secretary of state shall take reasonable steps to
1-50 determine whether each state of the United States that elects
1-51 United States senators has by law provided that a person is not
1-52 eligible to be a candidate, disregarding write-in candidates, for
1-53 or to be elected to or to serve in the office of United States
1-54 senator or United States representative from that state because of
1-55 the person's prior service in that office and shall maintain a
1-56 record of which states have done so.
1-57 (d) The secretary of state shall certify to the governor in
1-58 writing on the earliest date that the secretary of state determines
1-59 that 25 states or more have adopted a law described by Subsection
1-60 (c) applicable to the office of United States senator.
1-61 (e) The secretary of state shall certify to the governor in
1-62 writing on the earliest date that the secretary of state determines
1-63 that 25 states or more have adopted a law described by Subsection
1-64 (c) applicable to the office of United States representative.
1-65 (f) When the secretary of state makes a certification to the
1-66 governor under this section, the secretary of state shall file a
1-67 notice of the certification for publication in the Texas Register.
1-68 (g) For purposes of this section, a state is considered to
2-1 have adopted a law described by Subsection (c) even if the law is
2-2 contingent on the adoption of a similar law by one or more other
2-3 states.
2-4 Sec. 147.005. CERTAIN SERVICE EXCLUDED. Service as a United
2-5 States senator or United States representative for a term that
2-6 begins before January 1, 1997, does not count for purposes of
2-7 determining the eligibility of a person to be a candidate for
2-8 either office under this chapter.
2-9 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-10 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-15 * * * * *