Texas Ethics Commission

Well, we have the most draconian speech regulation regime that I've seen in, in the Western world, uh, right here in Texas.

The, the Texas Ethics Commission is a speech regulator that operates out of the basement of the capital claiming to have jurisdiction, not really just over every single living, breathing Texan, but liv- every living, breathing human being on planet Earth.

Um, and essentially, you know, if you engage in political activity, speech that is about government, politics in the state of Texas, uh, you are at the whim and beckon of these regulators.

Okay.

So I mean, it, it was kind of a, a bait and switch.

Um, back in the early 1990s, there was a constitutional amendment to move the kind of, uh, politically sticky issue of setting legislative salaries and per diems out of the legislature to an independent body.

And so voters went to the polls, and they approved the creation of the Texas Ethics Commission, and they were told this was an entity that would handle this issue of, you know, should we ever raise the salary, which is notoriously low, $600 a month, you know, should we ever raise that? Who would, who would make that recommendation to voters? And so they created an entity to do that.

But simultaneously with that, the legislature then gave those appointees who, who the legislature appoints, who operate in the capital, the power to regulate your speech, and they have abused that power now for three decades.

I'm the Texan senior editor, Rob Lauschius, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics.

First up, the Texan's war room has been updated with the most recent filings for the Texas Ethics Commission for the thirty-day pre-election period.

The war room provides a comprehensive look into the most pivotal campaigns of the 2026 elections in the Lone Star State.

Visit the texan.news now to read about the latest campaign finance numbers for all the statewide races, as well as elections for Texas House and Senate, the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, and the State Board of Education.

[laughs]

Just petty things, you know? Refusing to pay his fines for the Texas Ethics Commission because he refuses to file his required disclosures.

You know, just recently, um, Paxton announced an investigation into companies that did not fill out their water survey in the data center industry, right? Well, he himself is guilty of that same offense.

He did not submit required documents to the Ethics Commission, and he was levied a fine that he simply refuses to pay.

Next, Rosenthal, the Democratic nominee for the Railroad Commission, out-raised French in the last three months after trailing him throughout the first half of the year.

Rosenthal raised $487,000 in the last reporting period, which runs from July 1st through September 24th, according to his filing with the Texas Ethics Commission.

French raised $440,000 in the same period, according to his filing.

Rosenthal reported $378,000 in cash on hand, officially known as contributions maintained, in his most recent filing.

a $7.1 million fundraising lead over his Democratic opponent, State Representative Gina Hinojosa.

Texans for Greg Abbott, the governor's political action committee, raised about $20.3 million in the latest reporting period, which covers July through most of September, according to the committee's latest filing with the Texas Ethics Commission.

The campaign's total contributions maintained, otherwise known as cash on hand, added up to $17.3 million on September 25th, the last day of the reporting period.

During the same period, Hinojosa reported $13.3 million in contributions and $4.1 million in cash on hand.

More on that story coming up.

Updating a story first reported by Texas Scorecard, the Texas Ethics Commission decided yesterday, after we exposed their agenda, to table a proposed increase in the legislative daily per diem that would have amounted to a nearly $10,000 pay raise for lawmakers during the 140-day regular session.

Without any discussion, commissioners voted to push the matter to a future meeting.

Their proposal would have increased legislators' regular session pay from just under $31,000 to nearly $41,000.

That's in addition to the $600 monthly salary set in the Texas Constitution.

The measure would have also increased the amount of money that lobbyists could spend next year each day entertaining legislators without identifying the specific state official by name.

Members of the Texas Ethics Commission are appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and house speaker, though all of the appointees must be made from lists provided by the two parties' caucuses in each chamber.

In a new ranking of each state's educational freedom, Texas ranked 8th overall, but that's down from 7th last year.

Candidates for Houston's elected offices are facing new penalties if they don't file their campaign finance reports on time.

The city says it'll maintain a public list and will also file complaints with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Councilmember Julian Martinez called for the new rules.

They let the public know who finances our political campaigns.