HB105 Summary

• Requires law enforcement agencies initiating ethics investigations to notify and cooperate with the State Ethics Commission, and prohibits presenting suspected ethics violations to grand juries without commission referral (except for commission member/employee violations).

• Expands State Ethics Commission from five to six members with six-year terms, and adds presiding judges of the Court of Civil Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals, and President Pro Tem of the Senate as appointing officials.

• Revises gift ban prohibitions for lobbyists and principals offering gifts to public officials, with specified exceptions for meals, educational functions, and de minimis items valued at $25 or less per occasion ($150 aggregate annually).

• Strengthens whistleblower protections for public employees reporting ethics violations and prohibits retaliation through adverse employment actions; establishes civil remedies including reinstatement and back wages.

• Moves criminal prohibition against using official authority to influence votes or political action from elections code to ethics code; authorizes commission to issue public reprimands or private censures for minor violations where no economic gain occurred.

• Effective July 1, 2021.