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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to political advertising distributed or broadcast as part |
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of a mass text message campaign and civil penalties for required |
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disclosures on certain political advertising. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 251.001, Election Code, is amended by |
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amending Subdivision (16) and adding Subdivision (22) to read as |
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follows: |
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(16) "Political advertising" means a communication |
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supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to a |
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public office or office of a political party, a political party, a |
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public officer, or a measure that: |
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(A) in return for consideration, is published in |
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a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical or is broadcast by radio |
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or television or as part of a mass text message campaign; or |
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(B) appears: |
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(i) in a pamphlet, circular, flier, |
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billboard or other sign, bumper sticker, or similar form of written |
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communication; or |
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(ii) on an Internet website. |
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(22) "Mass text message campaign" means an organized |
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effort in which a person sends a text message to multiple recipients |
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in support of or opposition to a candidate, a political party, a |
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public officer, or a measure and which involves an expenditure of |
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funds for the messages that exceed the basic cost of hardware, |
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messaging software, and bandwidth. |
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SECTION 2. Section 255.001, Election Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as |
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follows: |
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(e) A person who violates this section is liable to the |
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state for a civil penalty in an amount determined by the commission |
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not to exceed $10,000 [$4,000]. |
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(f) For purposes of assessing a civil penalty under |
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Subsection (e), each individual text message that is distributed or |
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broadcast as part of a mass text message campaign in violation of |
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this section is a separate violation. |
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SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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political advertising that is distributed or broadcast on or after |
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the effective date of this Act. The distribution or broadcasting of |
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political advertising before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect on the date the political advertising |
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was distributed or broadcast, and the former law is continued in |
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effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |