| TO: | Honorable Rob Eissler, Chair, House Committee on Public Education |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB336 by Marquez (Relating to the filing and posting on the Internet of reports of political contributions and expenditures required in connection with the office of member of the board of trustees of certain school districts.), As Introduced |
The bill would require school districts located either wholly or partly in a city with a population of 500,000 or more to post on their Internet websites the campaign finance reports for school board trustees and candidates for school board positions. These reports would have to have portions of each political contributor's address removed by the school district to show only the city, state, and zip code, and then be posted online no later than the fifth business day after the date the report is filed with the school district.
Texas Ethics Commission reports no direct negative fiscal impact to the agency, but does project a 50 percent increase in the number of sworn complaints filed with the agency against school district filers as a result of the increase in availability of campaign finance reports online. However, it is anticipated that any additional costs could be absorbed within existing resources.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2011, and provisions of the bill would apply only to the posting of campaign finance reports that are required to be filed on or after January 1, 2012.
| Source Agencies: | 356 Texas Ethics Commission
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, LXH, MS, DEH
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