Texas
Texas Ethics Commission will require influencers to disclose when they’re paid for political advertisement
The action comes after The Texas Tribune reported that influencers were being paid to defend impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton.
AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Texas’ top campaign finance watchdog voted Tuesday to require social media figures to disclose when they are paid for political advertisement, nearly a year after The Texas Tribune reported that influencers were being quietly paid to defend impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In a 7-0 vote, the Texas Ethics Commission gave final approval to the changes, which were first proposed in March.
Last summer, the Tribune reported on a new company, Influenceable, that was paying Gen Z influencers to create or share social media posts that attacked the impeachment process and the Texas Republicans leading it, including House Speaker Dade Phelan. Commissioners did not mention the company directly on Tuesday but said at their previous meeting that the changes were in response to “at least one business” that was paying social media figures for undisclosed political messaging.
Influenceable has a partnership with Campaign Nucleus, a digital campaign service that was founded by Brad Parscale, a top official on former President Donald Trump’s last two campaigns. It also received $18,000 from Defend Texas Liberty in May 2023, after which influencers began to parrot claims that Paxton was the victim of a political witch hunt, accuse Phelan of being a drunk or urge their millions of collective followers to come to Paxton’s aid.
Defend Texas Liberty is a political action committee that two West Texas oil billionaires, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, used to give more than $15 million to far-right campaigns and candidates in the state since 2021. The two are by far Paxton’s biggest donors.
The new change amends the commission’s rules to clarify that disclosures are required for those who are paid more than $100 to post or repost political advertisements.
“This is not the case of the TEC inventing a substantive requirement to rulemaking,” the commission’s general counsel, James Tinsley, said before the vote. “It’s quite the opposite. It’s pairing back an exception.”
The rule change was strongly opposed by groups and figures funded by Dunn and Wilks, who decried it when it was first proposed earlier this year and claimed that the commission was creating a “secret speech police” that could target citizens for routine social media posts. Some of the loudest critics of the proposal, including the right-wing website Texas Scorecard, have for years been involved in lawsuits that challenged the constitutionality of the commission and sought to strip it of most of its regulatory powers.
Others argued that it did not go far enough because it held social media users accountable, but not those who pay them and fail to disclose as much.
“I just don’t want to pass the buck onto people that are literally only posting these because they’ll get $75, $80 or $90 out of it,” Andrew Cates, an Austin-based attorney focused on political campaigns, testified Tuesday.
The commission’s executive director, J.R. Johnson, agreed with Cates that the change is narrowly tailored, but added that it does prevent the commission from pursuing new rules in the future that deal with those who are paying social media users to post their political advertisements.
Campaign law experts have previously said that company’s like Influenceable reflect a decadeslong failure to modernize disclosure rules, many of which have not been updated since the widespread proliferation of social media or the internet.
“The [federal] laws around disclosure of campaign spending assumed a traditional model, like paying somebody to print your ad in the newspaper or paying a TV station to play your ad on the air,” Ian Vandewalker, an expert on the influence of money in politics and elections at the Brennan Center, told the Tribune last year. “Paying an influencer to talk about a candidate doesn’t fit into those traditional definitions, and so it’s slipping through the cracks.”
Texas has some restrictions on out-of-state donations, limits donations during the biennial legislative session and requires disclosures of political advertising that contain “express advocacy.” But otherwise, one longtime campaign finance lawyer said, the state’s rules allow “dark money to run amok.”
“If you’re not actually advocating for or against the election of someone or a proposition, then you pretty much fall outside” most regulations, Austin lawyer Roger Borgelt said last year.
This year, some Republican state lawmakers have called for ethics reform during the 2025 legislative session, citing what they said was a flood of misinformation and deceptive advertising during this year’s GOP primaries. Others directly cited Influenceable, and called for legislation to curb companies like it when lawmakers meet next year.
“I’m somebody who cares about truth and motivation,” State Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Cypress Republican who is currently running for Texas House Speaker, told the Tribune last summer. “I really dislike manufactured outrage and manufactured narratives. I prefer people to be honest, straightforward and truthful. And so I do think that, at a bare minimum, these things should have to be disclosed.”
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
HOUSTON – Notifications are going out to thousands of Texas families as the state launches the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program.
Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced that more than 42,600 students will receive award notices this week under the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program. This first round prioritizes students in the program’s highest-need category, those with qualifying disabilities who come from households earning at or below 500 percent of the federal poverty level, along with their siblings.
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Tier 1: Families with a child with a disability and household income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level (up to $165,000 for a family of four).
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Tier 2: Lower-income families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level (about $66,000 for a family of four).
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Tier 3: Families earning between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty level ($66,000–$165,000 for a family of four).
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Tier 4: Families above 500% of the poverty level. Only 20% of the program’s $1 billion budget is allocated for this tier, and a lottery will determine funding if there are more applicants than funds.
According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, notifications will be distributed in batches from April 22 through April 24. Families who receive notices will have 30 days to appeal funding determinations, though any adjustments must be supported by official school district records or Individualized Education Program (IEP) documentation.
“These awards put tens of thousands of Texas families one step closer to the educational path that works best for their children,” Hancock said in a news release.
Governor Greg Abbott praised the rollout, calling it a transformative step for education in the state.
“School choice funds being distributed to Texas families paves the way for Texas to become the No. 1 state for education,” Abbott said. He added that the program empowers parents to choose the best learning environment for their children regardless of income or location.
More award notifications are expected in the coming weeks. For families in the second priority tier, primarily lower-income households without qualifying disabilities, the next phase will include a lottery scheduled for the week of April 27. This process will determine which applicants receive funding for the 2026–27 school year, while others will be assigned positions on a waitlist.
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
A North Texas woman is apologizing to her neighborhood after being held hostage for more than 24 hours during a standoff that shut down a Providence Village subdivision and disrupted school bus service.
CBS News Texas obtained a post from the woman, who wrote, “I am so sorry, everyone, all of you have such wonderful families, and I’m sorry to bring this monster to us.”
Neighbors responded with support, telling her, “We are here for you,” and “Don’t be sorry, we were just so worried for you.”
Suspect faces multiple felony charges
Authorities said the woman was rescued by the FBI and SWAT after allegedly being held by 57‑year‑old Michael Miller. He faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint, aggravated kidnapping, burglary of a habitation, and violation of bond/protective order.
Miller received bonds on all charges except aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His total bond on the remaining charges is $4.5 million.
Neighbors sheltered in place for more than a day
Residents of the Foree Ranch subdivision are now trying to return to normal, but many say the experience is still lingering.
Preston Turner said he walked into the situation unexpectedly.
“I went to leave my house roughly on Monday morning, around 1 a.m., to go help a friend out that was in need,” Turner said. “I opened my garage, and I was approached by two SWAT members, and they were telling me to hurry up and close my garage and that we could not leave the house.”
Turner, his wife and children spent the next 24-plus hours hosting neighbors who lived across the street from the victim’s home. He streamed the standoff live on TikTok until authorities asked him to stop for safety reasons.
“And once I got the stream going, her family was on the stream, and they were asking me to continue because they wanted to know what was going on. So, very concerned about her,” he said.
Turner said he could see when Miller was arrested and placed into an SUV before being taken to jail.
Families describe fear and uncertainty
Up the block, Ruby Condensa and her family sheltered in place as the hours dragged on.
“It went on for so long. Um, at one point, I honestly did not know what was going to happen after we hit the 20-hour mark and I woke up, and I heard them,” Condensa said.
Her nearly two‑year‑old son Kai is used to playing outside, and she believes the uncertainty added to his anxiety.
“Kai, he’s a baby. He doesn’t know, but I think that obviously it was a lot just being inside. And I know my anxious energy might’ve been a little on him because it was a scary situation. Um, if it was that scary for me, I can’t even imagine what her and her family went through.”
Community gives victim space, offers support
Neighbors chose not to visit the victim’s home on Wednesday, saying they wanted to give her space after the traumatic event. But they made clear they are ready to help.
“It’s really sad, and I feel for her, and I hope that she can heal from that,” Condensa said. “And I know that, um, our neighborhood has really rallied around her, and if she needs anything. I know a lot of us would be there to help her in whatever way she needs.”
ABILENE, Texas — A Florida truck driver has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after a crash at a rural intersection left a South Texas man dead, authorities said.
Miguel Angel Casanova, 68, of Saint Cloud, Florida, suffered minor injuries in the crash and was wearing a seatbelt, according to investigators. After receiving treatment at Hendrick North Emergency Care, he was arrested on the charge.
RELATED| Abilene man charged with Intoxicated Manslaughter
Authorities identified the victim as Adam Lee Reyna, 26, of Mission, Texas. Reyna, who was driving a 2019 Dodge Ram pickup, died at the scene and was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace Mike McAuliffe. His seatbelt use was not immediately known.
According to a preliminary investigation, Casanova was traveling westbound on County Road 54 and approached a stop sign at the intersection with State Highway 351. Reyna was traveling northbound on the highway toward the same intersection.
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Investigators said Casanova failed to yield at the stop sign, and the vehicles collided.
The impact caused Reyna’s pickup to catch fire, and it was destroyed, authorities said.
RELATED| Abilene man indicted for intoxication manslaughter
Further investigation determined Casanova was intoxicated due to an overdose of medication at the time of the crash.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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