SECTION 20.409. Name of General-Purpose Committee

(a) The name of a general-purpose committee must include the full name of each corporation, labor organization, or other association or legal entity other than an individual that directly establishes, administers, or controls the general-purpose committee.

(b) A corporation, labor organization, or other association or legal entity that "directly establishes, administers, or controls" a general-purpose committee is one that has:

(1) the authority to actively participate in determining to whom the general-purpose committee makes political contributions or for what purposes the general-purpose committee makes political expenditures; or

(2) the authority to designate a person to a position of authority with the general-purpose committee, including that of an officer or director of the general-purpose committee.

(c) The name of an entity used in the name of a general-purpose committee may be a commonly recognized acronym by which the entity is known.

(d) The name of a general-purpose committee may not be the same as or deceptively similar to the name of any other general-purpose committee that has an active campaign treasurer appointment on file with the commission. The commission shall determine whether the name of a general-purpose political committee is in violation of this prohibition and shall immediately notify the campaign treasurer of the offending political committee of that determination. In determining whether the name of a general-purpose committee is the same as or deceptively similar to the name of any other general-purpose committee, the commission may be guided by Texas Administrative Code, Title 1, Part 4, Chapter 79. The campaign treasurer of the political committee must file a name change with the commission not later than the 14th day after the date of notification.

(e) For purposes of subsection (d) of this section, a general-purpose committee does not have an active campaign treasurer appointment on file with the commission if the committee files a dissolution report under §254.159, Election Code, or the campaign treasurer appointment for the committee is terminated and more than one year has lapsed since the committee has filed another campaign treasurer appointment with the commission.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.409 adopted to be effective December 31, 1993, 18 TexReg 9734; amended to be effective December 24, 2015, 40 TexReg 9112