Political Committees

Most individuals or entities filing report with the TEXAS ETHICS COMMISSION are required to file reports electronically unless the individual or entity is eligible to claim a statutory exemption.

Speaker filers have no statutory exemption.

EXEMPTION: A campaign finance filer may claim an exemption from electronic filing only if the filer does not use a computer to keep current records of contributions, expenditures, or donors AND if the filer does not accept more than $34,890 in political contributions or does not make more than $34,890 in political expenditures in calendar year 2026. (This threshold is adjusted annually under Section 571.064(b) of the Government Code based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers.) To claim an exemption a filer must submit with each paper filing the appropriate “Electronic Filing Affidavit Exemption”.

The law continues to exempt the following from the electronic filing requirement. In these cases, an affidavit need not be filed to claim the exemption.

• Certain candidates for political subdivisions located in more than one county if the governing body has not yet been formed, and specific-purpose committees supporting or opposing only those candidates.
• Specific-purpose committees supporting or opposing a measure if the measure concerns a political subdivision located in more than one county if the governing body has not yet been formed.
• Candidates for state party chair.
• Appointees.

All TEC filers will be assigned an 8 digit Filer ID number, sometimes called an account number, like 00049300. The only exceptions to this rule are Governor For A Day and Speaker Day Reunion filers which do not have a Filer ID and file on paper only.

If you are a TEC filer and do not have a Filer ID, you will most likely need to file a Treasurer Appointment form in order to be assigned a number. The following filers do not file a TA in order to be assigned a Filer Id:

• DCE filers that are organized as a PAC commonly referred to as Super PAC; they need to file a Statement to Act as Direct Campaign Expenditure Only Committee affidavit.
• LEG filers need to send a letter to the commission indicating that they are being created. See the Guidelines for Forming Legislative Caucus.
• SPK filers need to send a Declaration of Speaker Candidacy to the commission even though they will use the same filer id as they use for their candidate/officeholder account.
• Lobbyists will need to file a Filer ID Request/Name Change form.
• Appointees need to have a letter sent by their appointer (usually the governor or an executive head).

If you are a new TEC filer and do not qualify to file on paper, you must also submit a Form SECURITY to gain access to the Commission’s electronic filing application.

In order to reset your account’s password you must first request an email token by clicking on the “Forgot Password?” link on the login page as illustrated below:

At the next screen, TEC filers must enter their Filer ID or account number, shown with a red arrow pointing to the location. A local filer or a 1295 filer must enter the email address they are using for a login Filer ID (case sensitive as initially created). After entering your Filer ID, a filer must select a proper filer type from the pull down menu accessed by clicking the “v” to the right of “Select Filer Type”. Then you must click the “Next” button at the far right bottom of the screen to proceed. This screen is illustrated below:

You will receive a message in blue at the top right corner “An email has been sent”. An email from do-not-reply@ethics.texas.gov containing a link to change your password will be emailed to the primary email address on file.

The email token is good for 7 days. (A 1295 email token is good for 24 hours.) After that you must request a new password reset. The email token can be clicked only once. After it has been used, it is no longer usable.

The filing application can be started by using a personal computer or laptop, a Mac desktop computer or MacBook, a Tablet, or a smart phone to bring up a browser window. Acceptable browsers and their minimal version level are:

• Chrome 4
• Firefox 15
• Opera 12.1
• Safari 4
• Internet Explorer 9

Note: IE is no longer supported by Microsoft and is not recommended