Texas Targets Conservatives
From an editorial in the WSJ:
Texas, where state lawmakers have passed the kind of campaign disclosure bill that Congressional Democrats have tried but failed to impose. The bill requires that all social-welfare and nonprofit groups that spend more than $25,000 a year on politics report the details of their spending. The groups, which file under sections 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) of the tax code, would also have to disclose their donors, providing a new opportunity for advocacy groups to intimidate businesses and others from participating in elections.
All of this mimics what Democrats have been trying to do nationally but failed to do thanks to GOP opposition. Last year's twice-failed Disclose Act and the recently introduced Wyden-Murkowski Act aim to reregulate campaign spending by groups whose speech was liberated by the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling.
(SNIP)
The bill is sponsored by Republican state Senator Kel Seliger of Amarillo and in the House by state Representative Charlie Geren, who are targeting frequent critic Michael Quinn Sullivan from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Mr. Sullivan is on the black list because his group spreads the word about the voting records of lawmakers.
(snip)
Mr. Seliger's bill passed the Senate unanimously in April. But when Republicans realized what they'd voted for, two-thirds of the chamber voted to recall the bill from the House for a revote. That courtesy is routinely extended within the Texas legislature, but this time Mr. Geren refused. To force the bill directly to the Governor's desk, he moved the bill through the House unamended and it passed 94-51 with 51 Republicans opposed. Governor Rick Perry has until the end of the week to veto the bill or it becomes law. A spokesman says he is "reviewing" the measure, and the staffer didn't seem happy that we were asking the question.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578489183521250950.html
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