Campaign finance requirements for Texas ballot measures
 in Texas |
This article does not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Groups and individuals involved in ballot measure campaigns in Texas must adhere to the state's campaign finance laws. These laws regulate the amounts and sources of money given or received for political purposes; in addition, campaign finance laws stipulate disclosure requirements for political contributions and expenditures.
Proponents of more stringent regulations and disclosure requirements, such as the Brennan Center for Justice, claim that current laws do not go far enough to mitigate corruption and the influence of undisclosed special interests. Others, such as the Institute for Free Speech, argue that strict disclosure requirements and contribution limits impinge upon the rights to privacy and free expression.[1][2]
| In Texas, a group organized to advocate for the passage or defeat of a ballot measure is considered a specific-purpose committee. Texas requires specific-purpose committees to file two semiannual reports, in addition to two pre-election reports. |
The laws and regulations that apply to ballot measure campaigns may differ from those that apply to candidates for political office. To learn more about campaign finance requirements for candidates, see this article.
Texas ballot measures
- See also: Ballot measure
A ballot measure is any question or issue that appears on an election ballot to be approved or rejected by voters. In 26 states, plus Washington, D.C., citizens may use the initiative and referendum process, which permits citizens to petition to place measures on the ballot and usually involves a signature collection process of some kind. Even in states without initiative and referendum processes, however, ballot measures exist. In all states, citizens may be asked to approve legislatively referred constitutional amendments, state statutes, bond issues or tax proposals.
In Texas, ballot measures come in only one form: legislatively referred constitutional amendments.
Organizational requirements
Under Texas law, a group supporting the passage or defeat of a ballot question is considered to be a specific-purpose committee. A committee must file a campaign treasurer appointment statement, which serves as the campaign's official statement of organization, before it accepts more than $500 in contributions or makes expenditures exceeding that amount. This report must be filed with the Texas Ethics Commission for campaigns involved in a statewide ballot measure. If the ballot measure is local, the form must be filed with the municipal/county elections authority.[3]
See form: Campaign treasurer appointment statement
Contribution limits
Generally, Texas law allows a specific-purpose committee to accept unlimited contributions from any lawful source. State law prohibits an individual contributor from donating more than $100 in cash to a specific-purpose committee during a reporting period. Specific-purpose committees are required to maintain information on names, addresses, cities, phone numbers, and employers for all campaign contributions exceeding $500 in a reporting period, whether one-time or aggregate. While corporations and labor unions are prohibited from making contributions to state and local party organizations, candidates, candidate committees, and political action committees, they are permitted to contribute to specific-purpose committees in support or opposition of a referendum. Upon dissolution, there are no restrictions on how specific-purpose committees can disburse their surplus funds.[4][5][6][7]
Reporting requirements
Generally, specific-purpose committees are expected to file two semi-annual reports on July 15 and January 15. The first report covers all activity from January 1, or when the committee first filed, up to June 30; the second report covers all activity from July 1 to December 31. There are also two pre-election reports that committees must file. The first report is due 30 days before the election and includes all contributions from the first day following the last reporting period until the 40th day before the election. The second report is due eight days before the election and includes all contributions occurring from the 39th day before the election to the 10th day before the election. [8]
For contributions exceeding $50, a committee must report the name and address of the contributor. For expenditures exceeding $100, a committee must report the name and address of the recipient, as well as the purpose of the expenditure.[9]
Committees must file a report upon dissolution. This report covers all activity from the ninth day before the election until the day the committee is terminated. The report is due upon filing termination papers.[8]
Year-specific reporting dates
2021
The table below lists relevant campaign finance report filing deadlines in Texas in 2021.
| Campaign finance reporting deadlines in Texas, 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Report | Reporting period | Filing deadline |
| Semi-annual report | July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020 | January 15, 2021 |
| 30-day pre-election report | January 1, 2021 – March 22, 2021 | April 1, 2021 |
| 8-day pre-election report | March 23, 2021 – April 21, 2021 | April 23, 2021 |
| Semi-annual report | January 1, 2021 – June 30, 2021 | July 15, 2021 |
| 30-day pre-election report | July 1, 2021 – September 23, 2021 | October 4, 2021 |
| 8-day pre-election report | September 24, 2021 – October 23, 2021 | October 25, 2021 |
| Semi-annual report | July 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021 | January 18, 2022 |
| Source: Texas Ethics Commission, "2021 Filing Schedule for General-purpose Political Committees (GPAC), Including County Executive Committees (CEC), and Specific-purpose Political Committees (SPAC)," accessed July 12, 2021 | ||
2016
The table below lists relevant campaign finance report filing deadlines in Texas in 2016.
| Campaign finance reporting deadlines in Texas, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Report | Reporting period | Filing deadline |
| 2016 first semi-annual report | January 1 - June 30 | July 15, 2016 |
| 2016 second semi-annual report | July 1 - December 31 | January 15, 2017 |
| Source: Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 254, Sec. 254.123. SEMIANNUAL REPORTING SCHEDULE FOR COMMITTEE," accessed November 1, 2015 | ||
2015
The table below lists relevant campaign finance report filing deadlines in Texas in 2015.
| Campaign finance reporting deadlines in Texas, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Report | Reporting period | Filing deadline |
| 2015 first semi-annual report | January 1 - June 30 | July 15, 2015 |
| 2015 second semi-annual report | July 1 - December 31 | January 15, 2016 |
| Source: Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 254, Sec. 254.123. SEMIANNUAL REPORTING SCHEDULE FOR COMMITTEE," accessed November 1, 2015 | ||
State agencies
- See also: Campaign finance agencies in Texas
In Texas, there is one primary agency involved in campaign finance regulation.
- Texas Ethics Commission
- P. O. Box 12070
- Austin, TX 78711-2070
- Telephone: (512) 463-5800
- Fax: (512) 463-5777
Campaign finance legislation
The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Texas state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
|
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Texas campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Campaign finance requirements in Texas
- Campaign finance agencies in Texas
- List of Texas ballot measures
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Institute for Free Speech, "Money in Politics," accessed September 4, 2017
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Money in Politics," accessed September 4, 2017
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 252, Sec. 252.0031. CONTENTS OF APPOINTMENT BY SPECIFIC-PURPOSE COMMITTEE," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 254, Sec. 254.127. TERMINATION REPORT," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 254, Sec. 254.1541. ALTERNATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN COMMITTEES," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 254, Sec. 254.0312. BEST EFFORTS," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 253, Sec. 253.096. CONTRIBUTION ON MEASURE," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Texas Legislature, "Election Code Chapter 254, Sec. 254.123. SEMIANNUAL REPORTING SCHEDULE FOR COMMITTEE," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Specific-Purpose Committee Campaign Finance Report," accessed December 17, 2015
 |
State of Texas Austin (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
