1. (a) A filer who does not qualify for a waiver under §18.23 of this title (relating to Administrative Waiver of Fine) may request the executive director to waive a late fine by submitting an affidavit to the executive director. The executive director may waive or reduce the late fine if the filer meets the criteria and the late report meets the qualifications under the guidelines set out in §18.25 of this title (relating to Administrative Waiver or Reduction of Fine: Report Type I) and §18.26 of this title (relating to Administrative Waiver or Reduction of Fine: Report Type II).

2. (b) For purposes of determining a waiver or reduction of a late fine under §18.25 and §18.26 of this title (relating to Administrative Waiver or Reduction of Fine: Report Type I or Administrative Waiver or Reduction of Fine: Report Type II, respectively), a late report will be classified by report type, as follows:

   1. (1) Any report that is not a critical report as defined under paragraph (2) of this subsection will be classified as Report Type I and considered under §18.25 of this title.

   2. (2) A critical report will be classified as Report Type II and considered under §18.26 of this title. A "critical report" is:

      1. (A) a campaign finance pre-election report due 30 days before an election;
      2. (B) a campaign finance pre-election report due 8 days before an election;
      3. (C) a runoff report;
      4. (D) a daily special pre-election report required under §254.038 or §254.039, Election Code; or
      5. (E) a semiannual report subject to the higher statutory fine under §254.042, Election Code.

3. (c) For purposes of determining a waiver or reduction of a late fine under §18.25 and §18.26 of this title, a filer requesting a waiver or reduction of a late fine will be categorized by filer type, as follows:

   1. (1) Category A includes candidates for and officeholders of the following offices and specific-purpose committees supporting candidates for and officeholders of the following offices:

      1. (A) statewide office;
      2. (B) legislative office;
      3. (C) district judge;
      4. (D) state appellate court justice;
      5. (E) State Board of Education member; and
      6. (F) Secretary of State.

   2. (2) Category B includes all filers not categorized in Category A, as defined by paragraph (1) of this subsection, or Category C, as defined by paragraph (3) of this subsection. Examples of Category B filers include the following filer types:

      1. (A) lobbyists;
      2. (B) salaried non-elected officials;
      3. (C) candidates for and officeholders of district attorney;
      4. (D) candidates for and officeholders of political party chair;
      5. (E) political committees with $3,000 or more in annual activity in the calendar year in which the late report was due; and
      6. (F) a legislative caucus.

   3. (3) Category C includes:

      1. (A) unsalaried appointed board members and officials; and
      2. (B) political committees with less than $3,000 in annual activity in the calendar year in which the late report was due.

4. (d) For purposes of a reduction of a late fine under §18.25 and §18.26 of this title, good cause includes, but is not limited to, the following:

   1. (1) The report was filed no later than three days after the date it was due.
   2. (2) The filer filed the report within five days after first learning the report was late from a late notice sent by the commission.
   3. (3) The report was not a critical report and was prepared and placed in the mail on time but not postmarked by the deadline.
   4. (4) The filer had technical difficulties after regular business hours, but the report was filed no later than the next business day after the commission's technical support staff fixed the technical difficulty.
   5. (5) There are no funds in the filer's campaign or officeholder account and the filer is unemployed.
   6. (6) A first-time filer that is required to file campaign finance reports with a county filing authority and personal financial statements with the commission, who mistakenly files the personal financial statement with the county on the filing deadline and then correctly files with the commission within seven days of realizing the mistake.

5. (e) For purposes of determining whether a filer is eligible for a waiver or reduction of a late fine under §18.25 or §18.26 of this title, a prior offense is any prior late report in which a late-filing penalty was assessed except:

   1. (1) the late-filing penalty for that prior late report was waived under §18.23(a)(1) - (3) of this title; or
   2. (2) no late notices were sent for that prior late report and the filer did not file a request that the late-filing penalty be waived or reduced for the prior late report.
6. (f) A late fine that is reduced under §18.25 or §18.26 of this title will revert to the full amount originally assessed if the reduced fine is not paid within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the letter informing the filer of the reduction.

7. (g) A filer may appeal a determination made under §18.25 or §18.26 of this title by submitting a request in writing to the commission.

   1. (1) The request for appeal should state the filer's reasons for requesting an appeal, provide any additional information needed to support the request, and state whether the filer would like the opportunity to appear before the commission and offer testimony regarding the appeal.
   2. (2) The Executive Director may review the appeal and reconsider the determination made under §18.25 or §18.26 of this title or set the appeal for a hearing before the commission.
   3. (3) After hearing a request for appeal, the commission may affirm the determination made under §18.25 or §18.26 of this title or make a new determination based on facts presented in the appeal.

Source Note:The provisions of this §18.24 adopted to be effective March 10, 2015, 40 TexReg 1059; amended to be effective January 1, 2021, 45 TexReg 9407.