Jun. 26--If state Rep. Todd Smith had his way, the process of learning who gives money to support or oppose political candidates would be a lot more transparent in Texas. In the 2009 legislative session, the Euless Republican pushed hard for campaign finance reform.

His bill prohibiting corporations and labor unions from launching attack ads without playing by the disclosure rules required of other donors passed the House but not the Senate.

"Certain interest groups apparently wanted to protect the right to spend unlimited amounts of corporate and union money influencing political campaigns," he says dejectedly.

These special-interest groups, he says, "were running last-minute attack ads against political candidates with undisclosed and unlimited corporate contributions, arguing that the advertising was not political because they didn't use the magic words, 'Vote for a candidate.'

"The person who is being attacked does not even have the ability to know who is paying for the ads," he says.

While bypassing big ethics reform bills such as Smith's, state lawmakers passed some minor ones this year that Gov. Rick Perry signed into law June 19.

Will they help make Texas' leaders more ethical?

You decide.

Corporations and unions

What remained of Smith's reform bill is House Bill 2525, which prohibits labor unions and corporations from using administrative funds from political action committees (PACs) to pay for various aspects of campaigns.

Under Texas law, corporations and labor unions are not allowed to give money to political candidates. But they can form general-interest PACs. The administrative funds for those PACs are usually raised either by union dues or corporate dollars.

They are not raised by individual donations, which under state law must be disclosed.

The new law prohibits these administrative funds from paying for campaign telephone banks, campaign brochures, direct mail and partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives.

But as Smith points out, loopholes remain that allow attack ads from special-interest PACs to be funded by undisclosed donors.

Donations to judges

After Sept. 1, judges and judicial candidates can no longer accept political contributions while inside courthouses. According to Senate Bill 1152, any offered donations must be refused.

State law already prohibits giving donations inside the state Capitol complex.

The period in which judges may accept donations is standardized in House Bill 4060, which gives judges more time to raise money so they can pay off campaign debts.