Politically active nonprofits, which are playing an increasingly important role in state elections, would no longer be able to hide the identity of their major donors under a bill making its way through the Texas Legislature.
campaign finance
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson tracks the latest on Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on lawmakers’ openness to driving permits for non-citizens, Batheja on surprising support for higher state spending, Root and Galbraith on the state’s search for answers after the West explosion, M. Smith covers the debate over high school standards, Grissom finds a shadow payroll at the Capitol, Hamilton on the man with a plan at UT, Rocha spots a special deal for lawmakers accused of crimes, KUT’s Philpott on obstacles to road funding and Ramshaw on the privileges of legislative membership: The best of our best for the week of April 15-19, 2013.
Posted in
Bidness As Usual
Interactive: Health Care Lobbying in Texas
Ahead of the 83rd legislative session, the state’s 10 leading health care associations gave more than $4.6 million to Texas candidates. This interactive shows how much — and to whom — health care associations donated in 2011 and 2012.
Posted in
Politics
Losing a Once-in-a-Lifetime Political Donor
With the death this weekend of Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, Texas Republicans lost one of their stalwarts, and one of their biggest and most reliable donors. So did a few Democrats.
Posted inState Government
Bill Would Double Campaign Finance Disclosures
Legislation doubling campaign finance reporting, tighting up the laws governing political action committees in Texas and adding more detail to officeholders personal financial disclosures was unveiled Monday by Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington.
Posted in
Bidness As Usual
Charitable Donations, With Political Benefits
Charity fundraisers give lobbyists and political donors a way to show their support to officeholders during legislative sessions — when the law prohibits direct contributions.
Posted inState Government
Inside Intelligence: About That Revolving Door…
For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about officeholders who leave government and join the lobby, about what they should report and about whether they ought to sit out for a while first.
Posted in
Public Education
Straus on Priorities; More Campaign Woes for Dewhurst
The speaker of the House dampens expectations for vouchers, tax breaks and transportation without ruling any of those things out. And the lieutenant governor unpeels another layer of problems he says arose from a campaign manager’s embezzling.
Posted in
Bidness As Usual
Interactive: How Texas Stacks Up on Disclosure
Texas’ financial disclosure practices for lawmakers may not be as thorough as ethics experts would like them to be. But the path Texas has taken to reach its guidelines puts it ahead of many other states. Use our interactive to see how Texas stacks up.
Posted in
State Government
Newsreel: State Budgets and Campaign Money
In this edition of the Newsreel: The House and Senate have announced their starting budget proposals, and campaign funding numbers foreshadow the 2014 races for statewide offices.
