Rules
Adopted
ADOPTED RULES
At its December 2023, meeting, the Texas Ethics Commission voted to adopt the following amended and repealed rules: §§ 18.10 and 18.11. The text of the amended and repealed rules are located below.
§18.10. Guidelines for Substantial Compliance for a Corrected/Amended 8-day Pre-election Report.
(Effective January 8, 2024)
Text of Adopted Rule
§18.11. Guidelines for Waiver or Reduction of a Late Fine for a Corrected/Amended 8-day Pre-election Report.
(Effective January 8, 2024)
Text of Adopted Rule
§18.10. Adjustments to Reporting Thresholds.
Text of Adopted Rule
The adopted new language is indicated by underlined text.
The deleted language is indicated by [strikethrough] text.
Chapter 18. GENERAL RULES CONCERNING REPORTS.
Guidelines for Substantial Compliance for a Corrected/Amended 8-day Pre-election Report.
(a) A corrected/amended 8-day pre-election report substantially complies with the applicable law and will not be assessed a late fine under §18.9 of this title (relating to Corrected/Amended Reports) if:
(1) The original report was filed in good faith and the corrected/amended report was filed not later than the 14th business day after the date the filer learned of the errors or omissions; and
(2) The only corrections/amendments needed were to correct the following types of errors or omissions:
(A) a technical, clerical, or de minimis error, including a typographical error, that is not misleading and does not substantially affect disclosure;
(B) an error in or omission of information that is solely required for the commission’s administrative purposes, including a report type or filer identification number;
(C) an error that is minor in context and that, upon correction/amendment, does not result in changed monetary amounts or activity disclosed, including a descriptive change or a change to the period covered by the report;
(D) one or more errors in disclosing contributions that, in total:
(i) do not exceed $3[2],000; or
(ii) do not exceed the lesser of 10% of the total contributions on the corrected/amended report or $10,000;
(E) one or more errors in disclosing expenditures that, in total:
(i) do not exceed $3[2],000; or
(ii) do not exceed the lesser of 10% of the total expenditures on the corrected/amended report or $10,000;
(F) one or more errors in disclosing loans that, in total:
(i) do not exceed $3[2],000; or
(ii) do not exceed the lesser of 10% of the amount originally disclosed or $10,000; or
(G) an error in the amount of total contributions maintained that:
(i) does not exceed $3,000[250]; or
(ii) does not exceed the lesser of 10% of the amount originally disclosed or $10,000[2,500].
(H) The only correction/amendment by a candidate or officeholder was to add to or delete from the outstanding loans total an amount of loans made from personal funds;
(I) The only correction/amendment by a political committee was to add the name of each candidate supported or opposed by the committee, when each name was originally disclosed on the appropriate schedule for disclosing political expenditures;
(J) The only correction/amendment was to disclose the actual amount of a contribution or expenditure, when:
(i) the amount originally disclosed was an overestimation;
(ii) the difference between the originally disclosed amount and the actual amount did not vary by more than 10%; and
(iii) the original report clearly included an explanation of the estimated amount disclosed and the filer’s intention to file a correction/amendment as soon as the actual amount was known; or
(K) The only correction/amendment was to delete a duplicate entry.
(b) The executive director shall determine whether an 8-day pre-election report as originally filed substantially complies with applicable law by applying the criteria provided in this section.
(c) In this section, “8-day pre-election report” means a report due eight days before an election filed in accordance with the requirements of §20.213(d), 20.325(e), or 20.425(d) of this title (relating to a candidate, a specific-purpose committee, or a general-purpose committee, respectively) and §254.064(c), 254.124(c), or 254.154(c) of the Election Code (relating to a candidate, a specific-purpose committee, or a general-purpose committee, respectively).
§18.11. Reporting Staff Reimbursement.
Text of Adopted Rule
The deleted language is indicated by [strikethrough] text.
Chapter 18. GENERAL RULES CONCERNING REPORTS.
§18.11 Guidelines for Waiver or Reduction of a Late Fine for a Corrected/Amended 8-day Pre-election Report.
(a) A filer who has filed a corrected/amended 8-day pre-election report may request the executive director to waive or reduce a late fine assessed under §18.9 of this title by submitting an affidavit to the executive director. The executive director shall waive a late fine if the report meets the criteria in subsection (b) of this section and shall reduce a late fine if the report meets the criteria in subsection (c) of this section.
(b) A late fine for a correction/amendment to an 8-day pre-election report shall be waived if:
(1) The corrected report was filed not later than the fourth day after the original report due date;
(2) The only correction/amendment by a candidate or officeholder was to add to or delete from the outstanding loans total an amount of loans made from personal funds;
(3) The only correction/amendment by a political committee was to add the name of each candidate supported or opposed by the committee, when each name was originally disclosed on the appropriate schedule for disclosing political expenditures; or
(4) The only correction/amendment was to disclose the actual amount of a contribution or expenditure, when:
(A) the amount originally disclosed was an overestimation;
(B) the difference between the originally disclosed amount and the actual amount did not vary by more than 10%; and
(C) the original report clearly included an explanation of the estimated amount disclosed and the filer’s intention to file a correction/amendment as soon as the actual amount was known.
(c) A late fine for a correction/amendment to an 8-day pre-election report that does not meet the criteria for a waiver under subsection (b) of this section shall be reduced as follows:
(1) If the corrected/amended report was filed more than four days after the original report due date but was filed before the election day, the late fine is reduced to $500;
(2) If the corrected/amended report was filed after the election and the amount of the incorrectly reported or unreported activity was more than 10% of the total amount disclosed on the corrected/amended report but did not exceed the lesser of 25% of the total amount of activity, or $5,000, the late fine is reduced to $1,000; or
(3) If the amount of the incorrectly reported or unreported activity was more than 40% of the total amount disclosed in the corrected/amended report and the corrected/amended report was filed over a year after the election, the late fine is reduced to 10% of the amount at issue.
(d) A late fine that is reduced under this section will revert to the full amount originally assessed if the reduced fine is not paid on or before the 30th calendar day after the date of the notice informing the filer of the reduction.
(e) A filer may appeal a determination made under this section by submitting a request in writing to the commission.
(1) The request for appeal should state the filer’s reasons for requesting an appeal, provide any additional information needed to support the request, and state whether the filer would like the opportunity to appear before the commission and offer testimony regarding the appeal.
(2) After hearing a request for appeal, the commission may affirm the determination made under this section or make a new determination based on facts presented in the appeal.
(f) This section does not apply to a civil penalty assessed through the sworn complaint process or facial compliance review process. ]