Sec. 161.007.  UNLAWFULLY PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE FROM ATTENDING POLITICAL CONVENTION.  (a)  A person commits an offense if, with respect to another over whom the person has authority in the scope of employment, the person knowingly:
(1)  refuses to permit the other person to be absent from work for the purpose of attending a precinct convention in which the other person is eligible to participate or attending a county, district, or state convention to which the other person is a delegate;  or
(2)  subjects or threatens to subject the other person to a penalty for the purpose of preventing or retaliating for the other person's attendance at a precinct convention in which the other person is eligible to participate or for the other person's attendance at a county, district, or state convention to which the other person is a delegate.
(b)  In this section, "penalty" means a loss or reduction of wages or other benefit of employment other than a deduction for the actual time of absence from work.
(c)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986.  Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, Sec. 106, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.