{"id":66,"date":"2026-05-22T04:13:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=66"},"modified":"2026-05-22T04:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:13:36","slug":"texas-lawmakers-push-to-enforce-election-transparency-law-after-newsrooms-found-school-districts-failed-to-comply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=66","title":{"rendered":"Texas Lawmakers Push to Enforce Election Transparency Law After Newsrooms Found School Districts Failed to Comply"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Texas lawmakers are pushing to impose steep penalties on local governments that don\u2019t post campaign finance reports online, after an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found some school districts weren\u2019t doing so.<\/p>\n

Read more Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.<\/a><\/p>\n

The initial posting requirements, designed to make election spending more transparent, went into effect nearly two years ago. Most of the school district leaders said they had no idea they were out of compliance until the newsrooms contacted them. Even after many districts uploaded whatever documentation they had on file for their trustee elections, reports were still missing because candidates hadn\u2019t turned them in or the schools lost them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised and disappointed,\u201d said Republican state Rep. Carl Tepper, who authored the online posting requirement. \u201cI did realize that we didn\u2019t really put any teeth into the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tepper is aiming to correct that with a new bill this legislative session. He cited the newsrooms\u2019 findings in a written explanation of why the state needs to implement greater enforcement.<\/p>\n

The measure would require the Texas Ethics Commission, the agency that enforces the state\u2019s election laws, to monitor thousands of local governments\u2019 websites across the state and to notify them if any campaign finance reports are missing. If those government agencies do not upload the records that candidates have turned in within 30 days of the state\u2019s notice, the commission can fine them up to $2,500 every day until they comply.<\/p>\n

The proposed measure also recommends the state allot funding for the ethics commission to hire two additional staff members, whose job would be to monitor all local government entities that hold public elections in the state\u2019s 254 counties and roughly 1,200 cities and towns. The newsrooms previously found the agency did not have any staff dedicated to enforcing compliance in local elections and, instead, investigated missing or late reports only when it received a tip.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The bill has cleared the Texas House but still needs approval from the Senate by May 28 if it has a chance of becoming law.<\/p>\n

The superintendent of Galveston Independent School District, which was among those that ProPublica and the Tribune found hadn\u2019t posted any campaign finance reports online last year, said the measure would help schools like his.<\/p>\n

Read more Texas Lawmakers Pull Funding for Child Identification Kits Again After Newsrooms Report They Don\u2019t Work<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI do like the suggestion of a 30-day period to achieve compliance after an issue is reported,\u201dMatthew Neighbors said of the new proposal in an emailed statement. \u201cOur district, for example, had no objections to posting the necessary campaign information once our new employees were aware of the requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Rasti, the associate executive director of governmental relations for the Texas Association of School Boards, said districts do not flout the law intentionally. Rasti said the employees tasked with handling school board election documentation are not always well versed in the state\u2019s regulations but that the association plans to provide additional resources later this year.<\/p>\n

District employees are accustomed to handling a plethora of education-related paperwork and reporting requirements imposed by the state. But \u201celections are just different, and they seem to have ever-evolving laws and rules associated with them,\u201d Rasti said.<\/p>\n

Notably, Tepper\u2019s bill would not directly require the ethics commission to penalize or follow up with candidates who fail to turn in their reports. He initially included a provision in his bill that would make candidates ineligible to run for office if they didn\u2019t file those records, even if they won an election. He told the newsrooms that he cut the penalty after realizing the logistical challenges it might present.<\/p>\n

That means the ethics commission must still decide whether to investigate and fine any of the candidates and officeholders for the state\u2019s estimated 22,000 local elected positions should they miss a filing. By contrast, candidates who run for statewide office are automatically fined by the commission if they don\u2019t make a deadline.<\/p>\n

Tepper\u2019s ultimate goal is to create a unified system in which the ethics commission compiles campaign finance records for state and local candidates in one central database, rather than leaving local filings scattered across thousands of city, county and school district government websites. The Republican lawmaker withdrew his proposal to create such a system in 2023 after the commission estimated it would cost $20 million, but he told the newsrooms that he hopes to gain enough support to make that investment next session, in 2027.<\/p>\n

For now, he sees his proposal as a necessary advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in incrementalism,\u201d said Tepper. \u201cThis is another step toward better enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more North Dakota Ethics Commission Has No Authority to Punish Officials Violating Ethics Laws, State Leaders Argue<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found nearly three dozen school districts were missing required campaign finance reports online. Now lawmakers are pushing to impose steep penalties on local governments that fail to abide by the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Lawmakers Push to Enforce Election Transparency Law After Newsrooms Found School Districts Failed to Comply - Moving Services America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=66\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Lawmakers Push to Enforce Election Transparency Law After Newsrooms Found School Districts Failed to Comply - Moving Services America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found nearly three dozen school districts were missing required campaign finance reports online. 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