By: Button, Johnson, Springer, H.B. No. 1318

Anderson of McLennan, Leach, et al.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

re lating to the eligibility of presidential general election debates for distributions from a Major Events trust fund.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 5A(a)(4) and (5), Chapter 1507 (S.B. 456), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999 (Article 5190.14, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by S.B. 293, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, are amended to read as follows:

(4) "Event" means a Super Bowl, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four tournament game, the National Basketball Association All-Star Game, the X Games, the National Hockey League All-Star Game, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, a game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Bowl Championship Series or its successor or a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision postseason playoff or championship game, a World Cup Soccer game, the World Games, a national collegiate championship of an amateur sport sanctioned by the national governing body of the sport that is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee, an Olympic activity, including a Junior or Senior activity, training program, or feeder program sanctioned by the United States Olympic Committee's Community Olympic Development Program, a mixed martial arts championship, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, a Formula One automobile race, the Academy of Country Music Awards, the National Cutting Horse Association Triple Crown, a presidential general election debate, a national political convention of the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee, or the largest event held each year at a sports entertainment venue in this state with a permanent seating capacity, including grandstand and premium seating, of not less than 125,000. The term includes any activities related to or associated with an event.

(5) "Site selection organization" means:

(A) the National Football League, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Basketball Association, ESPN or an affiliate, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the International World Games Association, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), or the United States Olympic Committee;

(B) the national governing body of a sport that is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Formula One Management Limited, or the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile;

(C) the Academy of Country Music;

(D) the National Cutting Horse Association;

(E) the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee; [or]

(F) the Ultimate Fighting Championship; or

(G) the Commission on Presidential Debates.

SECTION 2. Section 5A, Chapter 1507 (S.B. 456), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999 (Article 5190.14, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (a-3) to read as follows:

(a-3) For purposes of Subsection (a-1) of this section, each presidential general election debate in a series of presidential debates before a general election is considered a separate, single event.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.