I. Summary

• A campaign reform that took effect in January 2004 requires Texas state candidates to disclose the employer and occupation of individual donors of $500 or more.

• The 181 Texas lawmakers elected as of November 2004 reported receiving 14,454 of these large contributions in 2004 and 2005. These contributions added up to more than $17 million.

• A standardized test of the contribution disclosure reports filed by these lawmakers found that they adequately disclosed occupation and employer data for just 58 percent of this money. As such Texas lawmakers flunked their own disclosure law.

• Performances of individual lawmakers varied wildly. Three senators and eight representatives aced disclosure with scores exceeding 90 percent. Rep. Joseph Deshotel (D-Beaumont) got a perfect score on his disclosure of his sole large donor. Senator Duncan (R-Lubbock) led the upper chamber, with a disclosure grade of 93 percent. House Speaker Tom Craddick got a “C,” disclosing 75 percent of his large contributions.

• Three senators and 28 representatives left the occupation and employer fields blank every time they reported a large donation. Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) raised the largest amount of these all-blank big contributions ($226,400). Rep. Kino Flores (D-Palmview) claimed this title in the House, raising $110,100 in big donations with nary an employer or occupation reported.

• Republican lawmakers disclosed 64 percent of the $10.6 million in large contributions that they reported, outperforming their Democratic colleagues, who disclosed just 48 percent of their $6.4 million haul. Incumbent lawmakers got a collective 58 percent, a score that is comparable to that of the rookies first elected in November 2004.

• Twenty-three lawmakers flunked disclosure on at least one huge contribution of $10,000 or more. Rep. Mark Homer (D-Paris) had little excuse to flub disclosure on the largest poorly disclosed contribution: a $150,000 check from his parents.

• Five lawmakers blew disclosure on huge checks from Texas’ No. 1 kingmaker: homebuilder Bob Perry. Four colleagues identified billionaire Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton—whose $16 billion ranks her as the planet’s 20th richest person—as a businesswoman, investor or rancher. Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) tagged aging rocker Don Henley—who helped produce the world’s best-selling album—as a self-employed investor. Rep. Tracy King (D-Batesville) choked on the disclosure of a former Texas governor.