Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, House Committee on Elections
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1094 by Farias (Relating to the availability on the Internet of reports of political expenditures and contributions filed in connection with certain county and municipal offices.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Election Code to require each county clerk to make a political report filed with the clerk in connection with a county office or the office of county commissioner available to the public on the county's Internet website not later than the second business day after the date the report is filed.
The bill would amend the Election Code to impose the same requirement on the clerk of a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more regarding the office of mayor or member of the municipality's governing body.
The bill would repeal Section 254.0401(b) of the Election Code.
The bill would repeal Section 176.009(b) of the Local Government Code effective January 1, 2012. This section imposes the requirements that would be added to the Election Code, except that the current statute applies only to a county with a population of 800,000 or more and to a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more.
The Ethics Commission reported there could be some minor additional administrative costs associated with the provisions of the bill. It is assumed that the amounts could be reasonably absorbed within current resources.
Local Government Impact
For counties with a population of 800,000 or more, there would be no fiscal impact. For counties of less than 800,000, there could be a negative fiscal impact for the new posting requirements, but the amounts would vary depending on current procedures.
Municipalities with a population of 500,000 or more currently post campaign finance reports for the offices of mayor and the governing body; therefore, there would be no fiscal impact to implement the provisions of the bill.