BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center H.B. 2101
81R9078 JRJ-D By: Pierson (Davis, Wendy)
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
With the record turnout in the 2008 primary elections and subsequent county/senatorial district conventions, some county parties found themselves with problems they had never before experienced. In Denton County, for example, there was not a suitable location inside the county to handle the expected record turnout for the county Democratic Party convention.
The Denton County Democratic Party could have solved their problem by moving their convention to a facility in neighboring Tarrant County, but were prohibited from doing so by current statute.
H.B. 2101 aims to allow county parties this flexibility by authorizing them to petition their state executive committee for permission to move their convention outside of county boundaries.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 174.062, Election Code, by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c), as follows:
(a) Requires a county convention, except as provided by Subsection (c), to be held in a county if the county is not situated in more than one state senatorial district. Makes a nonsubstantive change.
(c) Authorizes the county executive committee (committee), if the committee for a political party determines that no suitable location for the county convention is available in the county, to apply to the state executive committee of that political party to issue an order permitting the county convention to be held at a location outside the county. Requires that an order under this subsection be entered in the minutes of the state executive committee not later than the 30th day before the date the county convention is to be held.
SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2009.