Which of these snippets uses a better approach?

snippet1.py

###################
# FILE: commands.py
###################

cmds = {
    'help' : Command(cmd='help', callback=actions.do_help,
                        help_text=   \
"""
Usage:

    U1:\t:help
        Show general help.

    U2:\t:help <command>
        Show help for <command>. Use <U1> for a
        list of valid commands.
"""
        ),
    'about' : Command(cmd='about', callback=actions.do_about,
                        help_text=   \
"""
Usage:

    U1:\t:about
        Show 'about' information for this bot.
"""
        ),
    submit' : Command(cmd='submit', callback=actions.do_submit,
                        help_text=   \
"""
Usage:

    U1:\t:submit
        Show help for this command.
    U2:\t:submit <some_text>
        Send a feedback to this bot's developer. <some_text> is the message to send.
"""
        )
}




################
# FILE: utils.py
################

def is_valid_cmd(cmd):
    from commands import cmds

    return cmds.has_key(cmd)

snippet2.py

###################
# FILE: commands.py
###################

cmds = {
    'help' : Command(cmd='help', callback=actions.do_help,
                        help_text=   \
"""
Usage:

    U1:\t:help
        Show general help.

    U2:\t:help <command>
        Show help for <command>. Use <U1> for a
        list of valid commands.
"""
        ),
    'about' : Command(cmd='about', callback=actions.do_about,
                        help_text=   \
"""
Usage:

    U1:\t:about
        Show 'about' information for this bot.
"""
        ),
    submit' : Command(cmd='submit', callback=actions.do_submit,
                        help_text=   \
"""
Usage:

    U1:\t:submit
        Show help for this command.
    U2:\t:submit <some_text>
        Send a feedback to this bot's developer. <some_text> is the message to send.
"""
        )
}


def get_command(cmd):
  return cmds.get(cmd,None)




################
# FILE: utils.py
################

def is_valid_cmd(cmd):
    import commands
    return commands.get_command(cmd) is not None