The latest campaign finance news from The Texas Tribune.
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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Charity fundraisers give lobbyists and political donors a way to show their support to officeholders during legislative sessions — when the law prohibits direct contributions. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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The political action committee for Waste Control Specialists, which is owned by Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, was fined Wednesday by the Texas Ethics Commission over illegal political contributions. Full Story
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Criminal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Kenneth "Buddy" Barfield, a top aide to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Dewhurst's campaign accounts. Full Story
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Congressional candidates recently had to file their post-general election campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. This interactive includes the contribution, expenditure, cash-on-hand and debt totals gleaned from those reports. Full Story
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Election season ends Saturday, in a way, with the start of the biennial blackout on campaign contributions during a legislative session. Full Story
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The "late train" — the rush of supplicants making kiss-and-make-up contributions after an election — ended this weekend with the beginning of a blackout that outlaws political donations during a legislative session. Full Story
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This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: Who's in – or thinking of jumping in – the race for House speaker? And the legislative session blackout on campaign contributions starts this weekend — after a flurry of fundraising over the last two weeks. Full Story
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The 2012 election marked the rise of Super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited funds from individual and corporate donors. These groups spent more than $17 million in Texas, and received more than $100 million from Texas donors. Use our interactive to learn more. Full Story
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On Oct. 25, federal candidates filed their pre-general reports, the last campaign finance reports before the Nov. 6 general election. These reports are our last look at how much money each candidate had on hand before the big day. Use our interactive to view the contribution, expenditure, cash on hand and outstanding loan totals for each candidate. Full Story
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On Oct. 29, state candidates filed their eight-day reports, the last campaign finance reports before the general election. Use our interactive to view the contribution, expenditure, cash on hand and outstanding loan totals for each candidate. Full Story
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We've updated our campaign finance database to reflect state contribution and expenditure data reported by candidates and committees 30 days before Election Day. Use our tool to find out how much money was being spent in the final weeks of the 2012 election cycle. Full Story
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