Bill > HB4960

This bill modifies Texas election law by expanding the definition of political advertising to explicitly include mass text message campaigns, which are defined as organized text messaging efforts supporting or opposing a candidate, political party, public officer, or measure that involve expenditure of funds beyond basic technological costs. The legislation adds a new provision that when assessing civil penalties for violations of political advertising disclosure requirements, all text messages in a single mass text message campaign will be considered as one violation, rather than multiple separate violations. This means that if a political campaign sends out a series of text messages that fail to meet disclosure requirements, they would face a single penalty instead of potentially being penalized for each individual text message. The changes will apply only to political advertising distributed on or after the bill's effective date of September 1, 2025, and aims to provide clearer regulatory guidance for digital political communication methods. By specifically addressing mass text message campaigns, the bill updates election regulations to reflect modern political communication technologies and practices.

Government Affairs

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB4960