By: Bettencourt, et al.	S.B. No. 488

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to requirements for certain petitions requesting an
	election and ballot propositions.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 52.072, Election Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
	(f)  A proposition must substantially submit the question
	with such definiteness and certainty in identifying the
	proposition's chief features that the voters are not misled.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 233, Election Code, is amended by adding
	Section 233.0115 to read as follows:
	Sec. 233.0115.  BALLOT LANGUAGE MANDAMUS ACTION. If a court
	orders a new election under Section 233.011, a person may seek from
	the court a writ of mandamus to compel the governing body of a city
	to comply with the requirement that a ballot proposition must
	substantially submit the question with such definiteness and
	certainty that the voters are not misled, as provided by Section
	273.102.
	SECTION 3.  Section 253.094(b), Election Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(b)  A corporation or labor organization may not make a
	political contribution in connection with a recall election,
	including the circulation and submission of a petition to call an
	election. This subsection does not prohibit a religious
	organization from circulating or submitting a petition in
	connection with a recall election.
	SECTION 4.  Chapter 273, Election Code, is amended by adding
	Subchapter F to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER F. BALLOT PROPOSITION LANGUAGE ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS
	Sec. 273.101.  REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF STATE. (a)  Not later
	than the seventh day after the date on which a home-rule city
	publishes in the election order or by other means ballot
	proposition language proposing an amendment to the city charter or
	a voter-initiated initiative or referendum as requested by
	petition, a registered voter eligible to vote in the election may
	submit the proposition for review by the secretary of state.
	(b)  The secretary of state shall review the proposition not
	later than the seventh day after the date the secretary receives the
	submission to determine whether the proposition substantially
	submits the question with such definiteness and certainty that the
	voters are not misled.
	(c)  If the secretary of state determines that the
	proposition fails to substantially submit the question with such
	definiteness and certainty that the voters are not misled, the city
	shall draft a proposition to cure the defects and give notice of the
	new proposition using the method of giving notice prescribed for
	notice of an election under Section 4.003.
	(d)  A proposition drafted by a city under Subsection (c) to
	cure the defects may be submitted to the secretary of state under
	Subsection (a). If the secretary of state determines that the city
	has on its third attempt drafted a proposition that fails to
	substantially submit the question with such definiteness and
	certainty that the voters are not misled, the secretary of state
	shall draft the ballot proposition.
	Sec. 273.102.  MANDAMUS ACTIONS. (a)  In an action in a
	court of competent jurisdiction seeking a writ of mandamus to
	compel the city's governing body to comply with the requirement
	that a ballot proposition must substantially submit the question
	with such definiteness and certainty that the voters are not
	misled, the court shall make its determination without delay and
	may order the city to use ballot proposition language drafted by the
	court.
	(b)  The court may award a plaintiff or relator who
	substantially prevails in a mandamus action described by Subsection
	(a) the party's reasonable attorney's fees, expenses, and court
	costs.
	(c)  Governmental immunity to suit is waived and abolished
	only to the extent of the liability created by Subsection (b).
	Sec. 273.103.  MANDATORY SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY OF STATE.
	Following a final nonappealable judgment containing a finding by a
	court that a ballot proposition drafted by a city failed to
	substantially submit the question with such definiteness and
	certainty that the voters are not misled, the city shall submit to
	the secretary of state for approval any proposition to be voted on
	at an election held by the city before the fourth anniversary of the
	court's finding.
	Sec. 273.104.  CITY REQUIRED TO PAY FOR LEGAL SERVICES.
	Notwithstanding a home-rule city charter provision to the contrary,
	a city may not accept legal services relating to a proceeding under
	this subchapter without paying fair market value for those
	services.
	Sec. 273.105.  RULES.  The secretary of state may adopt rules
	as necessary to implement this subchapter.
	SECTION 5.  Sections 277.001, 277.002, 277.0021, 277.0022,
	277.0023, 277.0024, and 277.003, Election Code, are designated as
	Subchapter A, Chapter 277, Election Code, and a heading is added to
	Subchapter A to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER A. PROVISIONS RELATING TO SIGNATURES, VALIDITY, AND
	VERIFICATION OF PETITIONS
	SECTION 6.  Section 277.001, Election Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 277.001.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER [CHAPTER]. This
	subchapter [chapter] applies to a petition authorized or required
	to be filed under a law outside this code in connection with an
	election.
	SECTION 7.  Section 277.002, Election Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
	(f)  The illegibility of a signature on a petition submitted
	to a home-rule city is not a valid basis for invalidating the
	signature if the information provided with the signature as
	required by this section and other applicable law legibly provides
	enough information to demonstrate that the signer:
	(1)  is eligible to have signed the petition; and
	(2)  signed the petition on or after the 180th day
	before the date the petition was filed.
	SECTION 8.  Subchapter A, Chapter 277, Election Code, as
	added by this Act, is amended by adding Sections 277.005 and 277.006
	to read as follows:
	Sec. 277.005.  PETITION FORM; USE BY CITY AND OTHER PERSONS.
	(a)  The secretary of state shall prescribe the form and content
	for a petition related to a city charter amendment or city
	initiative or referendum election.
	(b)  A home-rule city that uses a form that is different from
	the official form prescribed under Subsection (a) may not
	invalidate a petition because the petition does not contain
	information that the petition form failed to provide for or to
	require to be provided.
	(c)  A person who circulates or submits a petition is not
	required to use a petition form prescribed by the secretary of state
	or a home-rule city. A petition that does not use a prescribed form
	must contain the substantial elements required to be provided on
	the prescribed form.
	Sec. 277.006.  RULES.  The secretary of state may adopt rules
	as necessary to implement this subchapter.
	SECTION 9.  Chapter 277, Election Code, is amended by adding
	Subchapter B to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER B. SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN CITY PETITIONS
	Sec. 277.031.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
	applies to a home-rule city that has a procedure requiring the
	governing body of the city to hold an election on receipt of a
	petition requesting the election that complies with the applicable
	requirements.
	Sec. 277.032.  CONFLICTS WITH CITY CHARTER OR OTHER LAW.  The
	provisions of this subchapter apply notwithstanding any city
	charter provision or other law.
	Sec. 277.033.  DETERMINATION OF VALIDITY. The city
	secretary shall determine the validity of a petition submitted
	under this subchapter, including by verifying the petition
	signatures, not later than the 30th day after the date the city
	receives the petition.
	Sec. 277.034.  COLLECTOR REQUIREMENTS PROHIBITED.
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), a city may not restrict
	who may collect petition signatures.
	(b)  A city may require a person who collects petition
	signatures to be a resident of the city. This subsection does not
	authorize a city to require a person who collects petition
	signatures to be a registered voter.
	SECTION 10.  Sections 9.004(a) and (c), Local Government
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The governing body of a municipality on its own motion
	may submit a proposed charter amendment to the municipality's
	qualified voters for their approval at an election. The governing
	body shall submit a proposed charter amendment to the voters for
	their approval at an election if the submission is supported by a
	petition signed by a number of registered [qualified] voters of the
	municipality equal to at least five percent of the number of
	registered [qualified] voters of the municipality on the date of
	the most recent election held throughout the municipality or
	20,000, whichever number is the smaller.
	(c)  Notice of the election shall be published in a newspaper
	of general circulation published in the municipality. The notice
	must:
	(1)  include a substantial copy of the proposed
	amendment in which language sought to be deleted by the amendment is
	bracketed and stricken through and language sought to be added by
	the amendment is underlined;
	(2)  include an estimate of the anticipated fiscal
	impact to the municipality if the proposed amendment is approved at
	the election; and
	(3)  be published on the same day in each of two
	successive weeks, with the first publication occurring before the
	14th day before the date of the election.
	SECTION 11.  Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Local Government
	Code, is amended by adding Section 51.080 to read as follows:
	Sec. 51.080.  PUBLICATION OF INITIATIVE OR REFERENDUM BALLOT
	PROPOSALS.  (a)  This section applies to a municipality for which a
	petition may be submitted requesting an election on an amendment to
	the municipality's charter or a voter-initiated initiative or
	referendum.
	(b)  In addition to any other notice or publication
	requirements, a municipality shall publish the ballot proposition
	language to be voted on at an election described by Subsection (a)
	not later than the 109th day before the date of the election.
	(c)  The municipality must provide on its website in an
	easily accessible location a clear and concise explanation of the
	process used to submit a petition requesting an election on an
	amendment to the municipality's charter or a voter-initiated
	initiative or referendum.
	SECTION 12.  Section 277.004, Election Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 13.  Not later than January 1, 2018, the secretary of
	state shall adopt a petition form as required by Section 277.005,
	Election Code, as added by this Act.
	SECTION 14.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only
	to a petition submitted on or after January 1, 2018.
	SECTION 15.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.