HBA-JEK H.B. 1956 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1956 By: Naishtat Elections 4/16/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1991, the legislature passed an ethics reform law to limit the amount of political contributions statewide candidates may use to repay personal loans to their campaigns. The law does not, however, limit the amount of contributions a candidate may use to repay a bank loan for which the candidate is personally liable. House Bill 1956 limits the amount of political contributions a candidate for governor or any other statewide office or statewide judicial office may use to repay any loan or extension of credit. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1956 amends the Election Code to prohibit a candidate or officeholder from using political contributions that in the aggregate exceed $500,000 for the office of governor, $250,000 for any other statewide office, $100,000 for a statewide judicial office, or five times the applicable limit under the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act for a non-statewide judicial office to repay any loan or extension of credit that the candidate or officeholder has a personal liability or obligation for or guarantees. H.B. 1956 prohibits the total amount of reimbursements and repayments made by a judicial candidate or officeholder for such a loan or extension of credit or for political expenditures from the person's personal funds from exceeding $100,000 for any other statewide office or five times the applicable limit under the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act for a non-statewide judicial office. The bill prohibits a judicial candidate from using political contributions to repay a loan from one or more persons related to the candidate or officeholder within the second degree by consanguinity. The bill authorizes a person who is both a candidate and an officeholder to repay loans from political contributions only in one capacity. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.