The state agency responsible for making sure Texas political candidates, state officers, lobbyists and others comply with campaign finance law could use some help from the Legislature in the upcoming session to do its job more effectively.
That’s the main takeaway from a lengthy review of the Texas Ethics Commission by the state’s Sunset Advisory Commission staff, who issued a report on the agency last month.Specifically, lawmakers should clean up the “numerous requirements and layers upon layers of exemptions” that make “compliance challenging for the regulated community and enforcement difficult” for the TEC, the staff report states.
Doing so would amend the “complicated, outdated, and unclear statute” that “hinders meaningful disclosure, strains TEC’s limited resources, and burdens filers,” according to the staff report.For example, innocent filing errors or submitting required forms even minutes after deadlines are minor violations that nonetheless trigger a confusing administrative process and often result in civil penalties.
“Receiving a notice by first-class mail can take up to five days, during which time the penalty could have increased by up to $500″ for a late filing, the staff report noted. Another recommendation: the Legislature should allow the TEC to redirect unspent funds in its budget for other purposes to its on-going technology needs.
J.R. Johnson, executive director of the TEC, applauded the Sunset staff’s “thorough and thoughtful” work in a Dec. 2 letter. He said he welcomed the proposed clean-up of the agency’s regulations so that it can “accomplish its mission” more successfully. The Sunset commission and lawmakers should take note that the agency leadership stands ready to implement changes.The admirable mission of the TEC is needed now more than ever.
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