Empower Texans Sues Lawmaker Over Press Passes. But Is It a News Organization or Lobbyist?

Stack of newspapers. Photo by Trinet Uzun/Shutterstock.com.

Empower Texans Inc. and two of its employees have sued Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Lake Worth, alleging he violated their free-speech rights by denying them press passes to cover the Texas House.

Central questions in the dispute are whether Empower Texans is a media organization or a political action committee, whether it’s editorially independent of a lobbying organization and whether or not it’s principally a general news organization.

Geren, chairman of the House’s administration committee, is responsible for issuing press passes that allow journalists access to the floor of the House. The April 16 complaint in Empower Texans v. Geren, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, claims that Empower Texans and two reporters for its publication “Texas Scorecard” should get the same access as other media outlets.

Geren declined to comment, and no one from the press office of the Texas Office of the Attorney General, which represents Geren, returned a call or email seeking comment before deadline.

“Our mentality about what is and what isn’t news has changed a lot,” said Austin solo Tony McDonald, who’s also the general counsel of Empower Texans and represents it in the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, House rules state that journalists who get press passes must work for a news organization or wire service. The company’s principal business must be original news and opinion, and it must be editorially independent of any organization that lobbies the government and isn’t principally a news organization. The journalists can’t be paid lobbyists or engaged in advocacy, advertising or publicity for any person or organization.

Two Texas Scorecard reporters applied for media credentials in January. The Texas Senate issued them press passes, but Geren sent them letters saying they weren’t eligible because their employer is closely associated with a general-purpose political committee, and the organization’s website displayed advocacy on policy matters before the Legislature. Geren’s letter said Texas Ethics Commission records showed the Empower Texans PAC had the same address as the reporters’ employer.

However, the complaint said that in the two years since 2017, the Empower Texans PAC has changed its address.

Empower Texans raised the address discrepancy in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, and in response, a House Business Office representative wrote a letter asking for information to show that Empower Texans, doing business as Texas Scorecard, was editorially independent of any organization that lobbies the government and isn’t principally a news organization.

Texas Scorecard’s managing editor wrote back to describe how it’s a general news organization. She asked for further definitions of being independent, lobbying and a general news organization.

Geren and his employees have refused to issue the credentials or provide further definitions, said the complaint.

The plaintiffs alleged that Geren has shown his distaste for Empower Texans on Twitter, possibly because he received “F” grades from an Empower Texans publication, and the nonprofit has endorsed his challengers in primaries.

They’re suing Geren under 42 U.S.C. §1983 for free-speech violations. They seek injunctive and declaratory relief to force Geren to issue press passes for the two reporters, declare they can’t be barred from the House floor, and declare the media credential application procedure and lack of appeals process are constitutionally inadequate. They also seek to recover attorney fees and costs.

McDonald noted that there is an entity called the Empower Texans PAC, which is organized as a general purpose political committee under Texas law, and the PAC’s treasurer is an Empower Texans employee. But McDonald noted the PAC is a legally separate entity from Empower Texans, which is a nonprofit corporation in Texas and a 501(c)(4) entity under federal tax law.

He also said that Empower Texans CEO Michael Quinn Sullivan is involved in ongoing litigation over whether he operated in 2010 and 2011 as an unregistered lobbyist. However, McDonald added that Empower Texans publishes a magazine and website and produces radio shows, maintains reporting bureaus across Texas and employs writers and editors who produce news products. Nobody has hired Empower Texans to push an agenda, he said.

“We really truly believe we’re fighting the good fight, on a matter of principle, and that absolutely not — we are not lobbyists,” he said.

Read the complaint.