S.B. No. 1011
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. Subsection (a), Section 305.0062, 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) guests, when invited by an individual described by
Subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5); and
(8) events to which all legislators are invited.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 305.024, 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:
(1) to an individual described by Section
305.0062(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) [a member of the legislative
or executive branch]:
(A) [(1)] a loan, including the guarantee or
endorsement of a loan; or
(B) [(2)] a gift of cash or a negotiable
instrument as described by Section 3.104, Business & Commerce Code;
or
(2) to an individual described by Section
305.0062(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (7):
(A) [(3)] an expenditure for transportation and
lodging;
(B) [(4)] an expenditure or series of
expenditures for entertainment that in the aggregate exceed $500 in
a calendar year;
(C) [(5)] an expenditure or series of
expenditures for gifts that in the aggregate exceed $500 in a
calendar year;
(D) [(6)] an expenditure for an award or memento
that exceeds $500; or
(E) [(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 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. Subsection (a), Section 305.0062, Subsection
(a), Section 305.024, and Section 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 5. (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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1011 passed the Senate on
April 28, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1011 passed the House on
May 9, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor