H.B. No. 1708
AN ACT
relating to the applicability of state ethics laws to and
indemnification of directors and officers of regional mobility
authorities; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 370, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 370.2521, 370.2522, and 370.2523 to
read as follows:
Sec. 370.2521. FILING OF FINANCIAL STATEMENT BY DIRECTOR.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), (d), or (e) a director
shall file the financial statement required of state officers under
Subchapter B, Chapter 572, Government Code, with the Texas Ethics
Commission.
(b) Subchapter B, Chapter 572, Government Code:
(1) applies to a director as if the director were a
state officer; and
(2) governs the contents, timeliness of filing, and
public inspection of a statement filed under Subsection (a).
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a director who is a
state officer subject to Subchapter B, Chapter 572, Government
Code.
(d) A director who is a municipal officer subject to Chapter
145, Local Government Code, or a county officer subject to
Subchapter A, Chapter 159, Local Government Code, shall file with
the Texas Ethics Commission a copy of the financial statement filed
under Chapter 145, Local Government Code, or Subchapter A, Chapter
159, Local Government Code, as applicable. Subchapter B, Chapter
572, Government Code, governs the timeliness of filing and public
inspection of a copy of a statement filed under this subsection.
(e) Subsection (a) does not apply to an authority if each
county that is a part of the authority has a population of less than
200,000. The commissioners courts of the counties that are a part
of an authority to which this subsection applies may jointly adopt a
process that requires the directors of the authority to disclose
personal financial activity as specified by the commissioners
courts.
(f) A person subject to Subsection (a) or (d) commits an
offense if the person fails to file the statement required by
Subsection (a) or the copy required by Subsection (d), as
applicable. An offense under this subsection is a Class B
misdemeanor.
Sec. 370.2522. APPLICABILITY OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST LAW
TO DIRECTORS. (a) A director is considered to be a local public
official for purposes of Chapter 171, Local Government Code.
(b) For purposes of Chapter 171, Local Government Code, a
director, in connection with a vote or decision by the board, is
considered to have a substantial interest in a business entity if a
person related to the director in the second degree by
consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code,
has a substantial interest in the business entity.
Sec. 370.2523. APPLICABILITY OF NEPOTISM LAWS. A director
is a public official for purposes of Chapter 573, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Section 370.258, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) If an officer or director who has been indemnified by an
authority under Subsection (a) is subsequently convicted of an
offense involving the conduct for which the officer or director was
indemnified, the officer or director is liable to the authority for
the amount of indemnification paid, with interest at the legal rate
for interest on a judgment from the date the indemnification was
paid.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 370.2521, Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, applies beginning January 1, 2006. A person
subject to Section 370.2521(a), Transportation Code, as added by
this Act, is not required to include financial activity occurring
before January 1, 2005, in a financial disclosure statement under
that section.
(b) Sections 370.2522 and 370.2523, Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to an action taken by the board of a
regional mobility authority on or after September 1, 2005. An
action taken by the board of a regional mobility authority before
September 1, 2005, is subject to the law in effect on the date the
action was taken, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1708 was passed by the House on April
26, 2005, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1708 on May 24, 2005, by a non-record
vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1708 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor