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79R6115 ESH-D
By: Swinford H.B. No. 1942
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to restrictions on and reporting of certain expenditures
by registered lobbyists.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 305.0062(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The report filed under Section 305.006 must also contain
the total expenditures described by Section 305.006(b) that are
directly attributable to members of the legislative or executive
branch. The expenditures must be stated in only one of the
following categories:
(1) state senators;
(2) state representatives;
(3) elected or appointed state officers, other than
those described by Subdivision (1) or (2);
(4) legislative agency employees;
(5) executive agency employees;
(6) the immediate family of a member of the
legislative or executive branch; [and]
(7) children, other than dependent children, of and
other guests invited by an individual described by Subdivision (1),
(2), (3), (4), (5), or (6); and
(8) events to which all legislators are invited.
SECTION 2. Section 305.024(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 305.025, a person
registered under Section 305.005 or a person on the registrant's
behalf and with the registrant's consent or ratification may not
offer, confer, or agree to confer to an individual described by
Section 305.0062(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (7) [a member of
the legislative or executive branch]:
(1) a loan, including the guarantee or endorsement of
a loan;
(2) a gift of cash or a negotiable instrument as
described by Section 3.104, Business & Commerce Code;
(3) an expenditure for transportation and lodging;
(4) an expenditure or series of expenditures for
entertainment that in the aggregate exceed $500 in a calendar year;
(5) an expenditure or series of expenditures for gifts
that in the aggregate exceed $500 in a calendar year;
(6) an expenditure for an award or memento that
exceeds $500; or
(7) an expenditure described by Section
305.006(b)(1), (2), (3), or (6) unless the registrant is present at
the event.
SECTION 3. Section 305.025, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 305.025. EXCEPTIONS. Section 305.024 does not
prohibit:
(1) a loan in the due course of business from a
corporation or other business entity that is legally engaged in the
business of lending money and that has conducted that business
continuously for more than one year before the loan is made;
(2) a loan or guarantee of a loan or a gift made or
given by a person related within the second degree by affinity or
consanguinity to the member of the legislative or executive branch;
(3) necessary expenditures for transportation and
lodging when the purpose of the travel is to explore matters
directly related to the duties of a member of the legislative or
executive branch, such as fact-finding trips, including attendance
at informational conferences or an event described by Subdivision
(4), but not including attendance at merely ceremonial events or
pleasure trips;
(4) necessary expenditures for transportation, [and]
lodging, food and beverages, and incidental entertainment provided
in connection with a conference, seminar, educational program, or
similar event in which the member renders services, such as
addressing an audience or engaging in a seminar, to the extent that
those services are more than merely perfunctory;
(5) an incidental expenditure for transportation as
determined by commission rule; or
(6) a political contribution as defined by Section
251.001, Election Code.
SECTION 4. Section 36.07(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) This section does not prohibit a public servant from
accepting transportation, [and] lodging, food and beverages, and
incidental entertainment [expenses] in connection with a
conference, educational program, or similar event in which the
public servant renders services, such as addressing an audience or
engaging in a seminar, to the extent that:
(1) the [those] services rendered are more than merely
perfunctory; and
(2) the expenditures are reported as required by
Chapter 305, Government Code, if applicable [, or from accepting
meals in connection with such an event].
SECTION 5. Sections 305.0062(a), 305.024(a), and 305.025,
Government Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to an
expenditure or the reporting of an expenditure made on or after
September 1, 2005. An expenditure or the reporting of an
expenditure made before September 1, 2005, is governed by the law in
effect on the date the expenditure was made, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
only to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2005. For
purposes of this section, an offense is committed before September
1, 2005, if any element of the offense occurs before that date.
(b) An offense committed before September 1, 2005, is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.