... Following months of heated debate, commission members issued a formal opinion, on a 5-3 vote, that interprets an open-government law requiring disclosure of gifts worth more than $250. ... [C]ommissioners in earlier discussions agreed that not requiring the disclosure of a gift's value was an egregious loophole. ...
The issue has been a fierce battle since last year when Bill Ceverha - a friend and appointee of House Speaker Tom Craddick - reported on his personal financial disclosure form that he had received a "check." Mr. Ceverha, a former House member from Dallas, sits on a board that oversees the $20 billion state employee retirement fund.
After public furor, Mr. Ceverha and his benefactor, Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, told The Dallas Morning News that Mr. Perry had donated $100,000 to Mr. Ceverha, who had declared bankruptcy because of lawsuits over his involvement with a Republican political action committee....
...State law forbids the spending of corporate money in connection with a campaign .... Four years ago, Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee, spent $600,000 of corporate money during the campaign, the basis of a pending money-laundering case against former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, the committee's chairman....The issue of cash gifts has dogged the commission for months after it was revealed that Bill Ceverha, a member of the state Employee Retirement System board, took $100,000 from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, the state's largest individual campaign donor.
Initially, Ceverha reported receiving a gift from Perry without identifying how much, a practice that the majority of the Ethics Commission said follows the letter of the law.... Bob Perry is a large campaign donor to Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick, who appointed the members of the Ethics Commission.
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