The following op-ed was published in the Dallas Morning News on July 31, 2025. 

In a free society, no one should face harassment, threats or worse simply for participating in public life. But in today’s polarized political climate, that fear is fast becoming reality. Lawmakers must be proactive to change course.

Elected officials now confront real danger just for doing their jobs. That much is clear following the tragic shootings in Minnesota that targeted legislators at their homes and the evacuation of the Texas Capitol in response to a credible threat.

Americans who get involved in the political process or support a nonprofit cause are also feeling the heat. This year alone has seen the bombing of a fertility clinic in California, a foiled attack on a pro-Israel organization’s offices in Florida, and rampant vandalism against pro-life pregnancy centers in multiple states.

In light of these dangers, protecting the privacy of elected officials and citizens’ home addresses is paramount. Texas lawmakers should ensure transparency obligations are met without putting personal privacy at risk. They can start by revisiting legislation that nearly passed in this year’s legislative session.

Senate Bill 1299 would have prevented politically motivated actors at state agencies from unlawfully collecting or releasing sensitive personal information about the members, volunteers and financial supporters of nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit donors could finally be confident that their personal information is secure. Just as important, officials who violate Texans’ privacy rights would finally face real consequences for doing so.

Importantly, the state’s campaign finance laws, which require disclosure for donations to candidates and other political groups, would have remained unchanged under this proposal. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld certain campaign finance laws as a limited exception to the Constitution’s generally strong protections for privacy.

Texas is often a leader in the defense of personal liberty, but SB 1299 was a rare case of the state playing catch-up. Twenty-two other states already have similar laws on the books, including neighboring Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Three states — Alabama, Colorado, and Nebraska — have passed this policy unanimously since 2023.

It was no surprise, then, that the bill gained overwhelming bipartisan support in the Texas Senate, where it passed 29-2, and subsequently passed out of a House committee unanimously (15-0). Yet SB 1299 fell by the wayside in the busy final days of session. That’s a regrettable outcome for privacy-conscious Texans, the state’s vibrant nonprofit community and everyone who values limited and accountable government.

The Supreme Court ruled as recently as 2021 that states cannot demand nonprofits turn over their sensitive donor records. That case, which stemmed from illegal demands from former California Attorney General Kamala Harris, illustrates vividly how exposing donor information could lead to political violence.

As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, “the petitioners had suffered from threats and harassment in the past. … For example, the CEO of the [plaintiffs] testified that a technology contractor … had posted online that he … ‘could easily walk into [the CEO’s] office and slit his throat.’”

Despite the court’s strong ruling, proactive legislation is the only way to guarantee donor privacy. California’s actions are proof of that. Prior to the 2021 case, there was already a unanimous Supreme Court decision protecting nonprofit donor privacy from state intrusions. That case, 1958’s NAACP vs. Alabama, was a landmark victory of the Civil Rights Movement that prevented Jim Crow officials from spying on the names and addresses of NAACP members.

California’s demand for nonprofit donor lists directly violated the Court’s ruling in NAACP vs. Alabama. Still, it took nearly a decade of legal wrangling just to reach the Supreme Court. In the meantime, countless Americans were deprived of their constitutional right to privacy and the safety it affords them and their families.

If a celebrated and unanimous Supreme Court ruling from the Civil Rights Era is not enough to keep state officials in line, the 2021 decision may someday be violated as well. Texans deserve confidence that it won’t happen here, especially in our current age of doxing and political violence. Protecting nonprofit donors from exposure and backlash is a simple, commonsense and bipartisan measure to ensure Texans’ privacy is protected and state agencies uphold their obligations.

Donor privacy is not a privilege. It’s a constitutional right, and Texas must act to protect it.

Heather Lauer is the CEO of People United for Privacy Foundation, a nonprofit that defends the First Amendment rights of all Americans, regardless of their beliefs, to come together in support of their shared values.