Anti-bribery provisions of the Speaker’s law severely limit the money that Speaker funds can raise and spend, including a prohibition on giving House candidates campaign money. Since successful House candidates elect the speaker, this well intended reform perversely favors speaker candidates who bend or break this law themselves or through political allies. Indeed, the current grand jury probe centers on $3.4 million in corporate and other funds that the Texas Association of Business and Texans for a Republican Majority PAC spent in 2002 to benefit 21 key House GOP candidates—16 of whom won.
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