HBA-GUM H.B. 2749 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2749 By: Homer Elections 3/29/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not provide disclosure guidelines for telephone voter solicitation. "Push polling," a form of telephone voter solicitation, refers to the practice of sending a message to a voter through the use of polling techniques. Some "push polls" do not tally data, using the poll instead solely to deliver a message to the voter. H.B. 2749 extends disclosure guidelines governing all other campaign advertising to telephone voter solicitation. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 255, Election Code, by adding Section 255.009, as follows: Sec. 255.009. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE ON TELEPHONE ADVERTISING OR POLLS. Requires a person, including a news organization, conducting a telephone advertising campaign or poll for a political campaign to state the person's full name, identify the candidate or political committee for whom the call is being conducted, and state the location from which the person is calling. Provides that this section applies only to telephone advertising campaigns or polls conducted by a person, or news organization, that is affiliated or aligned with a political entity, or compensated by a political entity. Establishes that a violation of this section is subject to a maximum penalty of $5,000, and each conversation in which this section is infracted constitutes a separate violation. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.