AI-assisted research summary: Corporations may fund and administer a general-purpose committee, and labor organizations may do the same as corporations may; both are barred from certain candidate-related and public political activities, with stated exceptions.
Sec. 253.100. EXPENDITURES FOR GENERAL-PURPOSE COMMITTEE. (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; (12) expenses incurred in preparing and delivering committee contributions; or (13) creation and maintenance of the committee's public Internet web pages that do not contain political advertising. (b) A corporation may make political expenditures, including fully or partially matching contributions to an organization that is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, to finance the solicitation of political contributions to a general-purpose committee assisted under Subsection (a) from the stockholders, employees, or families of stockholders or employees of one or more corporations. (c) A labor organization may engage in activity authorized for a corporation by this section. 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 a campaign contribution to a political committee under Section 253.097 or 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. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 249, Sec. 2.26, eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1306 (H.B. 2525), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1127 (H.B. 2586), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2019. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1239 (H.B. 3044), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.