Texas Secretary of State, Elections Division, Disclosure Filings Section:

An Inventory of Political Action Committee Campaign Contribution and Expense Statements (Part I) at the Texas State Archives, 1973-1983, 1985-1989

Agency History

The Texas Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.

The Secretary of State has a wide variety of duties and responsibilities, including the following: authenticating the publication of all laws passed by the state legislature; approving comptroller's accounts against the state prior to payment; maintaining a register of all official acts and proceedings of the governor, and all appointments to state boards and commissions; interpreting and enforcing the Texas Election Code, as the state's chief election officer; keeping the Seal of the State of Texas; maintaining many business-related filings, including corporation and Uniform Commercial Code filings.

The office of the Secretary of State is divided into five divisions: Executive, Elections, Statutory Filings, Administrative Services, and Information Services.

The Elections Division assists the Secretary of State in interpreting and applying the Election Code and other election laws. The Secretary of State, as Chief Election Officer of the State, has specific functions under the Election Code, which include receiving, examining, and filing the official certified returns of all general elections, special elections for members of the legislature, and constitutional amendment elections.

This ethics filing was created by House Bill 4, 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973. The Campaign Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1973 required the following things to be reported: full name and complete address of each person from whom contributions in an aggregate amount of more than $50 were received, the date, and the amount; full name and complete address of each person to whom any expenditure in an aggregate amount of more than $50 were made, the date, the amount, and the purpose; the occupations of such persons (for general purpose political action committees); full name and complete address of each person who assisted in obtaining credit or a loan of money; the total of all contributions received aggregating $50 or less; the total of all expenditures made aggregating $50 or less. (The $50 limit replaced a $10 limit established in 1973; prior to 1973, all contributions and expenditures were reportable by name and address.)

In 1975, House Bill 299 acknowledged the existence of political committees and allowed for expenditures by the same. Although political support committees had existed unofficially for some time, they were rigidly tied to specific candidates or issues. The amended election code allowed for "specific purpose political committees," defined as: (1) any political committee which accepts only contributions and/or makes only expenditures in support for or in opposition to candidates who are identifiable and for whom the office(s) to be sought are known and any political committee only accepting contributions and/or making expenditures in support for or in opposition to measures which identifiable; or (2) any political committee which accepts only contributions and/or makes only expenditures in assisting identifiable office-holders. Parameters for these "specific purpose committees" were quite rigid. All contributions by specific purpose committees to office-seekers were required to be shown on expense statements by said office-seekers.

"General purpose political committees," another type of political committee, may be defined as: (1) any political committee which accepts contributions and/or makes expenditures in support for or in opposition to candidates who are indefinite in indentity or for whom the office(s) to be sought are unknown and any political committee which accepts contributions and/or makes expenditures in support for or in opposition to measures which are indefinite in identity; or (2) any political committee which accepts contributions and/or makes expenditures in assisting office-holders, who are not identified. Guidelines established for general purpose committees allowed for funding to candidates which did not have to be reflected on their expense statements.

These filings were originally administered by the Enforcement Division, then (in the early 1980s) by the Campaign and Ethics Section of the Elections Division, renamed the Disclosure Filings Section by 1984. In 1992, the Texas Ethics Commission was created, and assumed the administration and enforcement of this filing. (V.T.C.A., Elections Code, Title 15, Chapter 251; also V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 571.061)

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Scope and Contents of the Records

These records consist of financial statements of campaign contributions and expenditures for political action committees (PACs) filed with the Texas Secretary of State's Office, dating 1973-1983 and 1985-1989. The files contain statements and lists of contributions and expenditures, designations of campaign treasurer, designations of final statement or specific purpose of the committee, correspondence, and envelopes. The law required all contributions by "specific purpose committees" to office-seekers to be shown on expense statements by said office-seekers. Guidelines established for "general purpose committees" allowed for funding to candidates that did not have to be reflected on their expense statements.

This filing was originally administered by the Enforcement Division, then (in the early 1980s) by the Campaign and Ethics Section of the Elections Division, renamed the Disclosure Filings Section by 1984. In 1992, the Texas Ethics Commission was created, and assumed the administration and enforcement of this filing.

These statements include the following information: full name and complete address of each person from whom contributions in an aggregate amount of more than $50 were received, the date, and the amount; full name and complete address of each person to whom any expenditure in an aggregate amount of more than $50 were made, the date, the amount, and the purpose; the occupations of such persons (for general purpose political action committees); full name and complete address of each person who assisted in obtaining credit or a loan of money; the total of all contributions received aggregating $50 or less; the total of all expenditures made aggregating $50 or less. (The $50 limit replaced a $10 limit established in 1973.)

Two alphabetical card indexes (available through the Archives reference staff of the Texas State Archives) match the names of the committees with the number assigned, for the periods 1973-1974 and 1975-1977. In addition, this finding aid contains a folder inventory for 1973-1979. The Secretary of State's Office retained a card index for 1979-1981 at the time of transfer of those files; Billie Thompson of the Disclosures Filings Section of the Elections Division made this decision not to transfer the index to the Texas State Archives in August 1989 after discussions with Archives and Information Services Division staff. An alphabetical listing of PAC names and corresponding numbers is available at the Texas Ethics Commission's Public Viewing Room in the "Report file printout." Call 512-463-5800 for more information.

The card file for 1973-1974 is set up by the full name of the committee, not the acronym or initials. For example, P.A.C.E. would be listed alphabetically under "Political Action Committee for Education." There are, however, inconsistencies. When the apparent acronym represents nothing, or in cases where the committee is long-standing and is known exclusively by its acronym, the committee is then alphabetized by the acronym. Also, Democratic and Republican organizations are alphabetized first under "Democrat" or "Republican," not the name of the county or the specific organization. To eliminate the confusion that such a filing system may cause, a complete folder inventory has been prepared.

The card index for committee expenses 1975-1978 follows a similar system. The most notable exception is that the alphabetical arrangement follows the exact title of the committee. For example, the El Paso Republican Mens' Club would fall under the first word of the title, i.e., "El." The Republican Party of Blanco County, by the same rule, would fall alphabetically under "Republican." Since cards have not been prepared or forwarded for many committees, particularly those from 1977-1978, a complete folder inventory has been prepared.

Within the committee files, some reports from 1979 are included. None have index cards prepared. Researchers must consult the folder inventory for "Committee Expense Statements, 1977-1979" to gain access to these files, which may be incomplete.

Finally, researchers requesting committee files from 1977 will note that reports from this year are part of two separate accessions and inventories. Both must be consulted to secure files for that year. In some instances, committee reports from one accession have been consolidated in the other. Thus, one folder may contain committee expense statements from 1975-1979.

Campaign contribution and expense statements of committees were created to ensure public accountability for the financial activities of political action committees, encouraging high ethical standards by means of public scrutiny of the appropriate records.

On April 2 and 5, 1991, the State and Local Records Management Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission inadvertently destroyed hardcopy statements of political action committees from September 1983 to September 1985 (52 cubic ft.). These records were among those that had been microfilmed by the Secretary of State, and are available at the Texas Ethics Commission in the Public Viewing Room.

To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.

This finding aid has been split into two separate finding aids due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. Click here for 1977-1983, 1985-1989. If you are reading this in paper, that finding aid is found at a separate divider within the binder.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions, including, but not limited to, bank account numbers, social security numbers of government employees and officials, and drivers license numbers (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Sections 552.117, 552.130, and 552.136), an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records.

Restrictions on Use

None.

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Political action committee campaign contribution and expense statements, Disclosure Filings/Campaign and Ethics Section, Elections Division, Texas Secretary of State. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1980/230, 1980/233, 1989/063, 1989/092, 1992/011

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Secretary of State's Office on June 13 and June 26, 1980; by the Statutory Documents Section of the Texas Secretary of State's Office on December 6, 1988; by the Elections Division on January 13, 1989; and by the Disclosure Filings Section of the Elections Division on October 3, 1991.

Processing Information

Laura K. Saegert, July 1989, August 1989

Tonia Carlisle, June 1993

Tony Black, May 2003

Other Formats for the Records

The Secretary of State's Office microfilmed committee campaign contribution and expenditure statements dating 1974-1991, producing 247 reels/cartridges of microfilm. This microfilm is maintained by the Texas Ethics Commission, and persons desiring access to, or possible copies of, portions of that microfilm should contact the Texas Ethics Commission. Contact information is available on the Texas Ethics Commission's website: http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tec/contact.htm.

On April 2 and 5, 1991, the State and Local Records Management Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission inadvertently destroyed hardcopy statements of political action committees from September 1983 to September 1985 (52 cubic ft.). These records were among those that had been microfilmed by the Secretary of State, and are available at the Texas Ethics Commission in the Public Viewing Room.

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Detailed Description of the Records