The latest Texas Ethics Commission news from The Texas Tribune.
State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, who was involved in a controversial land deal with Gov. Rick Perry, failed to disclose ownership or sale of the property to the Texas Ethics Commission, an apparent violation of a state ethics rules, according to a review of his personal financial statements. Full Story
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See how much money state-level candidates raised, spent, borrowed and have on hand with our interactive list, which allows you to sort, filter and download their mid-year reports. Full Story
More than a dozen state officials have at least $1 million in campaign money — and many of them face nominal financial competition this fall. Full Story
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Politicians, candidates and other state officers are required to disclose their personal finances, to discourage conflicts of interest and, according to the law, "strengthen the faith and confidence of the people of this state in state government." Yet getting these documents isn’t easy, so we've put all 3,070 available online. Full Story
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The Texas Ethics Commission recently released more than 3,000 personal financial statements — documents that detail state officials' financial interests and liabilities. Read, download or embed them with our new application. Full Story
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HillCo's lawsuit against two of its departing partners is threatening business as usual in the insular world of the Texas lobby, raising the specter of open combat in an industry that prefers to settle its fights behind closed doors. But as its allegations make plain, HillCo believes that two rogue employees are the ones who crossed the line, turning competition for clients into espionage and biting down hard on the hand that fed them. Full Story
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His campaign was criticized this week for failing to detail its expenditures. But Craig McDonald, who filed an ethics complaint on behalf of liberal watchdog group Texans for Public Justice, says there's a larger issue at play: the Perry administration's overall lack of openness. Full Story
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The latest poll in the governor's race, an ethics complaint over the governor's living expenses and fallout from the special election to replace Sen. Kip Averitt. Full Story
Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit watchdog group, filed a complaint today urging the Texas Ethics Commission to require Gov. Rick Perry to provide detailed reports of campaign expenditures on the Governor's Mansion. Full Story
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Tribune news partner WFAA-TV reports that state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, and her husband are driving cars owned by a highway contractor doing millions of dollars in business with the state. All the while, Harper-Brown sits on the influential House Transportation Committee. Full Story
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Sharon Keller isn’t as meticulous on her personal finance reports as she is particular about court closing time, the Texas Ethics Commission found today. Full Story
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Today the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld criminal charges against John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, meaning the case against them related to their work for former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay’s political action committee will proceed at the trial court level. Full Story
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Debra Lehrmann may have violated campaign finance laws during her bid to become the Republican Supreme Court nominee, according to a complaint filed today with the Texas Ethics Commission. Full Story
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Can an energy regulator who’s on the board of an entity he oversees make a play for the top job there? Industry and government sources say that’s what Barry Smitherman, the chairman of Texas’ influential Public Utility Commission, is doing, though Smitherman won't say whether he's in the running. Full Story
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It's a battle of the "reformers" — Texans for Lawsuit Reform and Texans for Insurance Reform — out in El Paso, and the two are neck-and-neck. Full Story
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The five major candidates in the governor's race spent $24 million from Jan. 22 to Feb. 20. Full Story
The Texas Ethics Commission and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts are opening up more of their data to the public at no charge. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case will come to be seen as the third horseman of the apocalypse for lawyers, judges, and those who favor the direct election of state judges. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case constitutes activist judicial arrogance. Full Story
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The governor's race candidates fill their campaign coffers disproportionately from some rural areas, according to a per-capita calculation. Each Dallas resident gave $1 to the race in 2009, for example, while those in Blanco donated $57. Full Story
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