A SHORT PRIMER ON TEXAS CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW Since the Waller County Democrats questioned my commitment to open and transparent government last week in Waller County Commissioners Court, I think it is time for us to have an open and honest conversation about Texas Campaign Finance Law. You see – if you want to run for public office in Texas, the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) is responsible for administering and enforcing the Texas Election Code (concerning political contributions, expenditures, and political advertising). Pursuant to the Texas Election Code, the TEC puts forth rules regarding how campaign finances are to be conducted, including the filing of campaign finance reports. If you are a candidate running for a county office (such as county judge), all of your campaign finance documents are filed with the County Clerk of the county of the office that are you seeking. The first step before you can accept $1 of campaign funds from anyone is you must file an Campaign Treasurer Appointment, designating who is your campaign treasurer. Once you have a treasurer appointed, you can raise campaign funds and actively campaign. Campaign finances (contributions, expenses, loans, etc) are all required to be disclosed and filed in periodic Campaign Finance Reports. Again, these reports are filed with the County clerk (for county candidates). Up until the fall of 2013, these campaign finance reports were available to the general public on the website of the Waller County Elections office. Unfortunately, they were removed last year, and are currently still not available online on any part of the County website. I have requested since that time that all campaign finance reports be put back online, but that has not yet happened. As such, I have made an effort to publish my campaign finance reports online myself and the reports of my opponent (which was Stan Kitzman in the primary – and now Sylvia Cedillo in the general election) The TEC publishes a schedule of when campaign finance reports are to be filed. Every candidate and officeholder that maintain campaign funds is required to file semi-annual reports on January 15 (covering July 1 – Dec. 31) and July 15 (covering Jan. 1 – June 30). In addition, during an election cycle, candidates are required to file a campaign finance report thirty days prior to the election (covering the time period from the last report to the 30 day report), which is called a 30 day Report. Candidates must also file an report 8 days prior to the Election which covers the time period from the 30 day report to the 8 day report). In 2014, the schedule for these filings are as follows: January 15, 2014 - January semi-annual report deadline February 3, 2014 – 30 Day Report before the Primary Election deadline February 24, 2014 – 8 Day Report before the Primary Election deadline July 15, 2014 – July semi-annual report deadline October 6, 2014 – 30 Day Report before the General Election deadline October 27, 2014 – 8 Day Report before the General Election deadline The failure to file a report by the deadlines stated above is a violation of the Texas Election Code. If you fail to file a semi-annual report, it is a violation of Texas Election Code 254.063. If you fail to file any other required report (30 day and 8 day if you are opposed), it is a violation of Texas Election Code 254.064. The purpose of these laws is transparency. These reports enable the voters to see who has contributed to a campaign and how the money is spent (much like a county budget and/or audit report). The filing requirements for these reports are essential to having an open government. It allows the public to question an officeholder’s motives if he/she makes a decision that substantially benefits a contributor. It allows the general public to evaluate where the candidates’ funds are coming from and whether that candidate may or might be influenced by contributors. Since I have declared as a candidate for County Judge, I have made every effort to comply with Texas Campaign Finance laws. I have filed reports on time in every instance. I have not missed a deadline. I have regularly published my reports online for the general public to review for themselves, and I will continue to do so. In 2014, there have been 5 deadlines for Campaign Finance Reports to have been filed. To my knowledge, and based upon a review of the Campaign Finance Reports on file with the County Clerk’s office, my opponent has only filed 2 campaign finance reports so far this year: On January 15, 2014, she filed her January 15 semi-annual report, but the report stated that it covered from “12/9/13 through 12/31/14”. Then, on July 18, 2014, she filed a “corrected report” correcting the previous report to “12/1/13 through 12/31/14”. The expenditures and contributions maintained in the corrected report also changed, as principal amount of all outstanding loans. My opponent did not file a 30 day report or an 8 day report for the primary election. She also did not timely file her semi-annual report on July 15, 2014, as required. She later filed a report on September 18, 2014, which she marked as her semi-annual July 15th report, covering from 1/1/14-6/30/14. 30 day reports for the general election were due yesterday, October 6, 2014. My opponent again failed to file any report in compliance with the law. Perhaps, with any luck, she filed her report today... and if so, I will make it available as soon as I get a copy of it. So, once again, in the interest of transparency and open and honest communication, below you will find links to all of my campaign finance reports (5) and the two reports (plus one corrected) of my opponent. I will leave it up to all of you to evaluate the content of the reports or the importance of complying with the Texas Election Code or Texas Campaign Finance law… I am also including a link to a TEC Order in relation to my opponent’s failure to comply with the Texas Election Code when she ran for re-election as Commissioner of Precinct 3. Campaign Finance Reports for Trey Duhon: Jan. 15 Semi-Annual: https://dropbox/s/4zz531gu7uoqgrk/Duhon%201-15-14%20SPAC.pdf?dl=0 30 Day report for Primary: https://dropbox/s/2p10fntlvbaex1t/Duhon%202-3-14%20SPAC.pdf?dl=0 8 Day Report for Primary: https://dropbox/s/6nsuq4ujjmzx3b9/Duhon%202-24-14%20SPAC.pdf?dl=0 July 15 Semi-Annual: https://dropbox/s/o9o7piywmvns111/Duhon%207-15-14%20SPAC.pdf?dl=0 30 Day Report for General Election: https://dropbox/s/1i5xul8j1b6n9uy/Duhon%2010-6-14%20SPAC.pdf?dl=0 https://dropbox/s/knsp51wjw8uj1eg/Duhon%2010-6-14%20COH.pdf?dl=0 Campaign Finance Reports for Sylvia Cedillo: January 15 Semi-Annual: https://dropbox/s/yxvgob94fxfm8lq/Cedillo%201-15-142014.pdf?dl=0 January 15 Semi-Annual (corrected): https://dropbox/s/wxd6jk0c9wwuqb4/Cedillo%208-17-2014%20corrected.pdf?dl=0 July 15 Semi-Annual: https://dropbox/s/2msaarp4h1dyvvf/Cedillo%209-18-14.pdf?dl=0 TEC Order on Prior Violations: ethics.state.tx.us/sworncomp/2012/31205187.pdf
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:37:41 +0000