Senate committee debates electioneering bill

The Senate State Affairs Committee met March 10 to discuss a variety of bills, including SB 875, which would establish criminal penalties for school board members and superintendents who use district resources for electioneering. The term generally means to encourage voting for certain candidates or ballot measures. Encouraging people to vote (but not for anything in particular) is typically not considered electioneering. 

Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed lawsuits against school administrators in several districts over the past few years, with most settling out of court. In some cases, the communications in question listed important issues in education, then simply encouraged employees to vote. 

To complement Paxton's interest in pursuing school district communications, Sen. Brian Birdwell filed SB 875, which lists specific kinds of communication that are inappropriate for school board members and superintendents to use when communicating about elections. In particular, the bill would forbid use of a district email address, a district phone or a mailing list maintained by the district. Additionally, administrators and school board members may not organize meetings or hold meetings on district premises to promote candidates; school premises may still be used as election sites, however.

After a handful of witnesses, the bill was left pending. 

TCTA will provide updates on the bill as it develops.