A Gift Disclosure Loophole for Texas Local Government Officials

An article on the Texas Watchdog website focuses on a serious loophole in the Texas gift disclosure policy, which applies to local government officials. Section 176.003(a-1) of the Local Government Code (Title 5, Subchapter C) states:

A local government officer is not required to file a conflicts disclosure statement in relation to a gift accepted by the officer or a family member of the officer if the gift is: (1)  given by a family member of the person accepting the gift; (2)  a political contribution as defined by Title 15, Election Code; or (3)  food, lodging, transportation, or entertainment accepted as a guest.

Political contributions are disclosed anyway, so that's not an issue, and gifts from family members should not be counted, as long as the definition of "family member" isn't too broad. But subsection (3) opens up a big loophole. As long as the official is a guest, that is, accompanied by someone from the giving party, a gift does not have to be disclosed. That includes World Series games, golf and fishing trips, and the like.

What makes this exception so odd is that if the giver has an interest in government decisions, it would be better that the giver not be sharing the official's meal, flight, or entertainment without disclosure. It is such long meetings, for the purpose of influencing decisions, that are the most important to disclose to the public.

Disclosure by Texas local government officials is already limited to gifts from a person who "enters or seeks to enter into a contract with a local governmental entity," which hardly covers all those who might want influence government decisions. Encouraging contractors and their lobbyists to accompany officials in addition to making them gifts only exacerbates the problem and seriously undermines any argument that disclosure is sufficient.

In Texas, under these rules, disclosure is ineffective. A gift ban, at least over a certain aggregate amount, would be preferable.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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