82R10606 CAE-F

By: Nash H.B. No. 2606

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to permissible political expenditures by a corporation or labor organization.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 253.100, Election Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(d) A corporation or labor organization may not make expenditures under this section for:

(1) political consulting to support or oppose a candidate;

(2) telephoning or telephone banks to communicate with the public;

(3) brochures and direct mail supporting or opposing a candidate;

(4) partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives;

(5) [political fund-raising other than from its stockholders or members, as applicable, or the families of its stockholders or members;

[(6)] voter identification efforts, voter lists, or voter databases that include persons other than its stockholders or members, as applicable, or the families of its stockholders or members;

(6) [(7)] polling designed to support or oppose a candidate other than of its stockholders or members, as applicable, or the families of its stockholders or members; or

(7) [(8)] recruiting candidates.

(f) A corporation or labor organization may designate a trade association or member organization as the recipient of political expenditures to finance the establishment or administration of a general-purpose committee.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a political expenditure made under Section 253.100, Election Code, as amended by this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act. A political expenditure made under Section 253.100, Election Code, before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the expenditure is made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.