AUSTIN—Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation commended Gov. Abbot for signing House Bill 2283 by Rep. Phil King into law this past week. The bill prohibits outside special interest groups from flooding Texas with millions of dollars to run thinly veiled, ideological and partisan get-out-the-vote campaigns using government officials as cover. In 2020, these groups funneled $36 million targeting specific voters in key areas of Texas that either vote strongly for Democrats or were battleground counties. In other battleground states, such as Wisconsin, research found these funds to be wholly partisan in effect, resulting in no increase in Republican turnout.
“The so-called donations were simply an attempt to use local governments as a cloak to cover partisan get-out-the-vote efforts,” said Election Protection Project Senior Fellow Chad Ennis. “The Legislature was rightly concerned about this practice and should be commended for its quick action in banning the scheme.”
“This is an important step, but the quorum breaking walkout on comprehensive election reform at the close of the session left Texas with much to be done,” said Vice President of National initiatives Chuck DeVore. “We applaud this action, but encourage the governor to continue pursuing his stated priority of restoring trust in elections in a Special Session.”