Monitoring the Session

HB 4958

Phelan Bill Fines Unlabeled Officeholder Ads Up To $4,000

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Dade PhelanRHouse 21

Initial review · graded Oct 22, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to required disclosures on political advertising supporting or opposing certain officeholders; authorizing a civil penalty.

Caption from analyzed text · version H.

Summary

Ads about an officeholder who isn’t on the ballot must say who paid.

The bill requires anyone who knowingly publishes, distributes, or broadcasts political ads for or against an officeholder who is not on a ballot at that time to say the ad was paid for and give the full name of whoever paid. It touches groups, campaigns, and individuals who run ads about sitting officeholders between elections, and the Texas Ethics Commission, which sets the form of the notice and the penalty amount. Starting September 1, 2025, ads like these must carry a paid-for disclosure, and violators can owe the state a civil penalty of up to $4,000.

Labels

Labels: STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House State Affairs committee 15-0 on May 1, 2025. Placed on the General State Calendar on May 14, 2025. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB4958 · 2025-03-13

SOLD BY

Rep. Dade PhelanRHouse 21

ITEM

relating to required disclosures on political advertising supporting or opposing certain officeholders; authorizing a civil penalty.

WHAT IT DOES

Ads about an officeholder who isn’t on the ballot must say who paid.

The bill requires anyone who knowingly publishes, distributes, or broadcasts political ads for or against an officeholder who is not on a ballot at that time to say the ad was paid for and give the full name of whoever paid. It touches groups, campaigns, and individuals who run ads about sitting officeholders between elections, and the Texas Ethics Commission, which sets the form of the notice and the penalty amount. Starting September 1, 2025, ads like these must carry a paid-for disclosure, and violators can owe the state a civil penalty of up to $4,000.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 25, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to State Affairs
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in formal meeting
  9. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  10. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  11. Committee report distributed
  12. Committee report sent to Calendars
  13. Considered in Calendars
  14. Placed on General State Calendar
FILED UNDER

SPEECH AND LAWFARE

THE TEXT

“A person may not knowingly cause to be published, distributed, or broadcast political advertising supporting or opposing an officeholder whose name is not on an election ballot”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill extends paid-for disclosure rules, backed by a civil penalty, to political speech about officeholders who are not on the ballot.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Dade Phelan

Donors

Tyson D. Faust$75,000Tama Lundquist$75,000JLN III Holdings LLC$50K

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 24, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Tyson D. Faust$75,000.00
Tama Lundquist$75,000.00
JLN III Holdings LLC$50,000.00

JLN III Holdings LLC

$50,000.00

Cash
$50,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$50,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Oct 8, 2024 to Dec 2, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Oct 11, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100987524.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

JLN III Holdings LLC

$50,000.00

Cash
$50,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$50,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Oct 8, 2024 to Dec 2, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Oct 11, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100987524.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses6
For
0
Against
5
On
1
Names

Against

  • Self3 registrations
  • Self; SREC EI Committee and Secure Texas Elections LP Subcommittee, Self1 registration
  • Self; Texas Gun Rights1 registration

On

  • Texas Ethics Commission1 registration
Sources

6 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 25, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version H by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Mar 13, 2025

05/14/2025 H Placed on General State Calendar

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:19 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 15 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

Civil Remedies & Liabilities

Elections--Campaign Financing

Ethics

ADVERTISING

Text

The text as introduced · 182 words

89R8714 MZM-F

By: Phelan
H.B. No. 4958

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to required disclosures on political advertising

supporting or opposing certain officeholders; authorizing a civil

penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 255, Election Code, is amended by adding

Section 255.009 to read as follows:

Sec. 255.009. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE ON POLITICAL ADVERTISING

SUPPORTING OR OPPOSING CERTAIN OFFICEHOLDERS; CIVIL PENALTY. (a)

A person may not knowingly cause to be published, distributed, or

broadcast political advertising supporting or opposing an

officeholder whose name is not on an election ballot at the time the

political advertising is published, distributed, or broadcast

unless the political advertising indicates in the form and manner

the commission requires by rule:

(1) that the political advertising was paid for; and

(2) the full name of the person who paid for the

political advertising.

(b) A person who violates this section is liable to this

state for a civil penalty in an amount the commission determines not

to exceed $4,000.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.