TO:	Honorable James White, Chair, House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2706 by Howard (relating to the reporting of sexual assault and other sex offenses, to the emergency services and care provided to victims of those offenses, and to the processes associated with preserving and analyzing the evidence of those offenses.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure, to remove provisions regarding false reports that allow law enforcement to decline a request for an examination of an adult within 120 hours, to require law enforcement to request an exam of a minor outside of 120 hours, and to clarify that examinations of adults may also be conducted outside 120 hours based on the circumstances of the assault or if a medical professional indicates that one is needed.

The bill would amend multiple articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure to include a "health provider" that operates a sexual assault forensic examination (SAFE) program under Chapter 323 of the Health and Safety Code as an entity eligible to receive reimbursements for emergency medical care expenses for examination for reported and non-reported sexual assaults.

The bill would amend Chapter 323 of the Health and Safety Code, to include Subchapter A for emergency services provided by health care facilities and Subchapter B, for emergency services provided by sexual assault forensic examination programs.

The bill establishes the SAFE program and includes it as an entity that may provide emergency services to victims of sexual assault.

Fiscal Analysis

It is assumed that the provisions of the bill would result in increased participation in the Crime Victims' Compensation Program. The Office of the Attorney General indicates that the increase in participation would require an additional 3 Administrative Assistants II FTEs, 4 Reimbursement Officer III FTEs, 4 Accountant II FTEs, and 1 Accountant I FTE to accommodate an increased workload.

In addition to FTE costs, the Office of the Attorney General anticipates one-time costs of for vendor hours to update the claims management system workflow used for crime victim claims.

The expected five-year cost of the project is $32.8 million.

Note that the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 56B.454 states the Office of the Attorney General may not make compensation payments that exceed the amount of money available in the Compensation to Victims of Crime Fund (Fund 0469) and states general revenue may not be used for compensation to victims of crime payments. The forecasted cash balances and revenues in Fund 0469 are insufficient to support the additional costs to the Crime Victims Services program that would arise as a result of passage of this bill.
 
According to the Health and Human Services Commission, any work resulting from the provisions of the bill would be absorbed within current resources.

According to the Department of Public Safety, no fiscal implication is anticipated.

This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources.

Methodology

The bill would have a fiscal impact on three separate areas related to sexual assault examination reimbursements within the Crime Victims' Compensation Program: (1) Sexual Assault Exam Reimbursements (SAER), (2) Emergency Medical Care (EMC), and (3) Crime Victims' Compensation (CVC) claims.

It is anticipated that the bill would result in an increase in SAER applications of 10% in the first year, 5% in the second year, and 2% in years three through five. These figures are based on the assumption that the modifications to how law enforcement request sexual assault examinations would lead to an increase in SAER.

	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2026
New SAER Applications	1,078	1,132	1,155	1,178	1,201
Avg. Payment with 2% Increase	740	755	770	785	801
Total Increase New SAERs	797,720	854,660	889,350	924,730	962,001

In addition to the increases above, provisions in the bill would allow for applicants to receive facility fee reimbursements. The cost increase associated with these facilities fees would be $654,525 per year.

It is anticipated that the bill would result in an increase in EMC applications of 2,618 in the first year. This increase is the result of the bill enabling standalone sexual assault forensic programs as being eligible to receive reimbursements for emergency medical care provided to sexual assault survivors. It is expected that the number of new applications would increase by 5% in the second year, and 2% in years three through five.  

 

	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2026
New EMC Applications	2,618	2,749	2,804	2,860	2,917
Avg Payment with 2% increase	$1,109	$1,131	$1,154	$1,177	$1,200
Total Increase New EMCs	$2,903,362	$3,109,119	$3,235,816	$3,366,220	$3,500,400

 It is anticipated that the bill would result in an increase in CVC program applications that would correspond with the increase in Sexual Assault Exam Reimbursements applications. CVC applications are typically received on 52% of SAER applications. On average, 67% of applications received are approved and 43% of those on average receive a payment.
 

	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2026
New CVC Applications	561	589	601	613	625
% with payments	162	170	173	177	180
Avg Payment	$5,433	$5,542	$5,652	$5,766	$5,881
Total Increase New CVCs	$880,146	$942,140	$977,796	$1,020,582	$1,058,580

In addition to increases in applications for the previously mentioned programs, there would be an increase in costs related to an outside Cost Containment Vendor (CCV) to process medical bills. The current CCV contract allows for cost increases in the cost per bill. The CVC program conservatively estimates that each new SAER application will have one bill and that the EMC applications will have 3 bills per application. 
 

	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025	FY 2026
New SAER Bills (1 per app)	1,078	1,132	1,155	1,178	1,201
New EMC Bills (3 per app)	7,854	8,247	8,412	8,580	8,751
Total New	8,932	9,379	9,567	9,758	9,952
CCV per bill	$8.90	$9.20	$9.40	$9.40	$9.40
Total Increase for CCV	$79,495	$86,287	$89,930	$91,725	$93,549

The Office of the Attorney General indicates that the bill would require salaries and wages for 3 Administrative Assistant II ($105,048), 4 Reimbursement Officer II ($183,092), 3 Accountant II ($119,188), and 1 Accountant I ($39,640). In addition to the increase in costs for salaries and wages is a $152,059 per year increase in costs for employee benefits and $23,100 per year in costs for travel expenses. Additionally, a one-time cost of $49,000 would be anticipated for vendor hours to update the claims management system workflow used for crime victims claims.

Technology

The technology impact is as outlined within the Fiscal Impact section and includes one-time costs of $95,090 in 2022 and a recurring annual cost of $36,630 in each fiscal year from 2022 to 2026. One-time costs include application development, standard computer desk-top/laptop, software, printer, and telecom/voice mailbox and the costs to update the claims management system. Annual recurring charges cover data center services and voice lines.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.