Bills › 88th General Assembly
Relating to permissible honoraria from restricted donors to public officials and public employees
Topics:State government
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 8, 2019
- Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 26, 2019
- Done: House committeeMarch 6, 2019
- Stopped: Passes the HouseDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2020 session adjourned on June 14, 2020, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
This bill relates to permissible honoraria from restricted donors to public officials and public employees. Under Code chapter 68B (government ethics and lobbying), a public official or public employee is prohibited from seeking or accepting an honorarium from a restricted donor, subject to certain exceptions. One such exception permits a public official or public employee to accept an honorarium if the honorarium consists of payment for the public official or public employee’s actual expenses for registration, food, beverages, travel, and lodging paid in return for participation in a panel or speaking engagement when the expenses relate directly to the day or days on which the public official or public employee has participation or presentation responsibilities.
Read the full explanation
The bill provides that a public official or public employee may not accept an honorarium that is payment for actual expenses in exchange for a panel or speaking engagement if the payment exceeds $499 per day. A knowing and intentional violation of the limitations on accepting an honorarium is a serious misdemeanor. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $315 but not more than $1,875. In addition, a person who accepts an honorarium in violation of Code chapter 68B is subject to civil penalties or disciplinary action issued by the ethics and campaign disclosure board and to disciplinary action taken by the ethics committees of the senate and house of representatives.
House subcommittee
Named February 26, 2019. On March 5, 2019 it recommended amendment and passage.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part