BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4255

By: Klick

Elections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are concerns about the lack of clarity in the authority of a new county chair of a political party to manage the party's bank accounts when the new chair takes over before the previous chair's term has expired. C.S.H.B. 4255 seeks to address these concerns by clarifying that a county party chair has authority over local primary and corporate bank accounts.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4255 amends the Election Code to clarify that the county chair of a political party has authority over local primary and corporate bank accounts.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 4255 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute specifies the applicable bank accounts over which the county chair of a political party has authority and removes the specification that the chair is the primary signer on applicable accounts.