Can political action committees base their decisions on how candidates plan to vote in the speaker's race? Probably, according to an opinion drafted for consideration by the Texas Ethics Commission.

That panel was asked (anonymously) whether it's legal for political action committees to ask candidates about their preferences for speaker and then to base the PAC's decisions and contributions on the answers to those questions.

The draft answer, in a word: Yup. The committees can ask candidates all about their speaker preferences, and can base their decision on the answers. What they can't do, according to an opinion drafted for the full Ethics Commission's consideration, is "promise or agree to cause economic benefit to a person or threaten to cause the withholding of economic benefit from a person. Placing a candidate to whom the questions are asked on notice that the committee will make its decision on whether or not to support the candidate based on the candidate's responses would constitute legislative bribery..."

The trip wire is in what the committee tells the candidate. They can ask, and they can make their decision on the basis of the answers, but they can't promise or threaten the candidate with the consequences.

It's a two-way street, by the way. The draft opinion also says candidates can't accept economic benefits or campaign contributions if those are based on the candidates' answers to questions about the speaker's race.

If the money's based on an understanding that a candidate will vote one way or the other, it's a felony, according to that draft.

The full Ethics Commission meets tomorrow morning.