H.B. No. 2525

	AN ACT
	relating to political expenditures made by a corporation or labor
	organization to finance the establishment and administration of a
	political committee.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 253.100, Election Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e)
	to read as follows:
	(a)  A corporation, acting alone or with one or more other
	corporations, may make one or more political expenditures to
	finance the establishment or administration of a general-purpose
	committee. In addition to any other expenditure that is considered
	permissible under this section, a corporation may make an
	expenditure for the maintenance and operation of a general-purpose
	committee, including an expenditure for:
	(1)  office space maintenance and repairs;
	(2)  telephone and Internet services;
	(3)  office equipment;
	(4)  utilities;
	(5)  general office and meeting supplies;
	(6)  salaries for routine clerical, data entry, and
	administrative assistance necessary for the proper administrative
	operation of the committee;
	(7)  legal and accounting fees for the committee's
	compliance with this title;
	(8)  routine administrative expenses incurred in
	establishing and administering a general-purpose political
	committee;
	(9)  management and supervision of the committee,
	including expenses incurred in holding meetings of the committee's
	governing body to interview candidates and make endorsements
	relating to the committee's support;
	(10)  the recording of committee decisions;
	(11)  expenses incurred in hosting candidate forums in
	which all candidates for a particular office in an election are
	invited to participate on the same terms; or
	(12)  expenses incurred in preparing and delivering
	committee contributions.
	(c)  A labor organization may engage in activity authorized
	for a corporation by this section [Subsections (a) and (b)]. For
	purposes of this section, the members of a labor organization are
	considered to be corporate stockholders.
	(d)  A corporation or labor organization may not make
	expenditures under this section for:
	(1)  political consulting to support or oppose a
	candidate;
	(2)  telephoning or telephone banks to communicate with
	the public;
	(3)  brochures and direct mail supporting or opposing a
	candidate;
	(4)  partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote
	drives;
	(5)  political fund-raising other than from its
	stockholders or members, as applicable, or the families of its
	stockholders or members;
	(6)  voter identification efforts, voter lists, or
	voter databases that include persons other than its stockholders or
	members, as applicable, or the families of its stockholders or
	members;
	(7)  polling designed to support or oppose a candidate
	other than of its stockholders or members, as applicable, or the
	families of its stockholders or members; or
	(8)  recruiting candidates.
	(e)  Subsection (d) does not apply to a corporation or labor
	organization making an expenditure to communicate with its
	stockholders or members, as applicable, or with the families of its
	stockholders or members as provided by Section 253.098.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to a political expenditure made under Section 253.100, Election
	Code, as amended by this Act, on or after the effective date of this
	Act. A political expenditure made under Section 253.100, Election
	Code, before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
	in effect at the time the expenditure is made, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2525 was passed by the House on May
	15, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 132, Nays 12, 1 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 2525 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 125, Nays 16,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2525 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 25, Nays
	6.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor