By Junell                                             H.B. No. 2526
         77R8389 ESH-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to political activity of and political contributions made
 1-3     by certain persons to members of or candidates for the State Board
 1-4     of Education.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1. Sections 7.108(a) and (c), Education Code, are
 1-7     amended to read as follows:
 1-8           (a)  A person [interested in selling bonds of any type or a
 1-9     person engaged in manufacturing, shipping, selling, or advertising
1-10     textbooks or otherwise connected with the textbook business]
1-11     commits an offense if:
1-12                 (1)  the person knowingly makes or authorizes a
1-13     political contribution to or knowingly takes part in, directly or
1-14     indirectly, the campaign of any person seeking election to or
1-15     serving on the board; and
1-16                 (2)  the person:
1-17                       (A)  has entered into a contract with the board
1-18     that is in effect at the time the conduct under Subdivision (1)
1-19     occurs, or proposes to enter into a contract with the board;
1-20                       (B)  is an officer or employee of a person who
1-21     has entered into or proposes to enter into a contract described by
1-22     Paragraph (A); or
1-23                       (C)  is a subcontractor of a person who has
1-24     entered into or proposes to enter into a contract described by
 2-1     Paragraph (A) in relation to that contract or proposed contract.
 2-2           (c)  In this section, "political [:]
 2-3                 [(1)  "Political] contribution" has the meaning
 2-4     assigned by Section 251.001, Election Code.
 2-5                 [(2)  "Textbook" has the meaning assigned by Section
 2-6     31.002.]
 2-7           SECTION 2. (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-8     only to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2001.  For
 2-9     the purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
2-10     September 1, 2001, if any element of the offense occurs before that
2-11     date.
2-12           (b)  An offense committed before September 1, 2001, is
2-13     covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
2-14     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-15           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.