Quorum Report Daily Buzz Quorum Report Daily Buzz Login into the Quorum Report Subscribe toQuorum Report
Quorum Report Daily Buzz

October 23, 2014      3:38 PM

TEC Chairman invites conservative Senate nominees to testify about dark money

Seeks to clear up any confusion about the commission’s proposed rule on disclosure

The chairman of the Texas Ethics Commission is inviting conservative Texas Senate nominees to testify before the commission in relation to their assertion that the agency is potentially going to overstep its authority when it comes to disclosure of donors to certain groups that engage in political activity.

A group of Republican nominees for the Texas Senate led by Bob Hall earlier this month said they believe the commission’s proposed rule on dark money groups seeks to overturn Governor Perry’s veto of a dark money bill last session. In a letter signed by Hall, Konni Burton, Paul Bettencourt, and others, the group argued that the “legislative process played itself out” on a bill that would have required nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code to publicly disclose contributors who give more than $1,000 to any dark money group makes more than $25,000 in political expenditures.

Here’s their letter.

In a letter dated Wednesday and obtained by Quorum Report on Thursday, TEC Chairman Jim Clancy said he and other commissioners are in no way trying to overrule the legislative process. "The Commission has limited enforcement and rule making authority,” Clancy wrote and added that the commission can merely enforce the laws “as written and must use common sense.”