Houston Democrats

HB 1348 will specifically define electioneering communication. It clarifies the administrative expenses for which corporate and union funds may be used and specifically defines those uses for which they are prohibited and individual donations must be disclosed.

It adopts a "bright line" test. According to the bright line test, an ad is electioneering and must be paid with fully-disclosed individual contributions, not corporate or union money if any of the following criteria are true:
- It is aired within 60 days of a general election
- It refers to a candidate
- It is a TV ad, radio ad, direct mail piece, or phone bank message. These types of ads could still be aired, but they cannot be paid for with corporate or union money.

HB 1348 does not prohibit political parties from raising and spending corporate and union money. However, it does state that political parties must keep these sources of funds separate from funds specifically used for political activities. Parties are limited to spending corporate and union donations only on administrative expenses (explicitly defined in HB 1348) to administer a primary, to administer a convention, and to cover the costs of redistricting.

1. There was over $6 million in corporate $$ in the Texas 2002 elections. These were not direct contributions to candidates, but funds used to influence the outcome of the elections via PACs, parties and "independent" expenditures.
HB1348 seeks to uphold the 100-year-old Texas tradition of keeping corporate and union money out of our elections. At least until 2002, that was an expectation that both Democrats and Republicans could live with.

To view a summary of HB 1348 visit: www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/hb1348
To view a complete text of HB 1348 visit: www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/reports/daily/79R/house.htm

For more information about HB 1348 read my March 10 post: "Don't say the "magic words"" and/or visit the Clean Up Texas Politics site. Also read Rick Casey's article in the Houston Chronicle.

Take Action:

Thank your legislator for supporting HB 1348.
Clean Up Texas Politics has a complete list of those legislators who have said they support HB 1348.

Tell Lt. Governor Dewhurst to support HB1348.

Tell Speaker Craddick to support HB1348.

Call, write, or send an e-mail to your representative and ask him or her to support HB 1348. Click here to find your representative and his or her contact information.