According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), it is estimated that there are 6,000 entities in Texas that would meet the definition of a swim school under the provisions of the bill. This definition may include recreational centers of local governments, as well as summer camps and fitness centers.
TDLR estimates it would need a total of 31.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions to implement the provisions of the bill to regulate swim schools in the state. These FTEs would be responsible for processing the complex applications for swim school operator licenses from approximately 6,000 operators and their more than 18,000 employees, respond to customer service contacts, conduct annual inspections, track all violations that require remedies, follow up on remediation, enter the results in the online database, receive and investigate complaints and reports of serious incidents, provide administrative support to program staff, perform background checks, maintain the case management system, and establish the minimum safety requirements for swim schools. The General Counsel III position would also draft the memoranda of understanding with the Department of Family and Protective Services to allow TDLR to obtain information from the abuse and neglect registry and with the Department of Public Safety to allow TDLR to display criminal conviction information on the searchable database as required by the bill. The total cost to the General Revenue Fund for the FTEs would be $1,938,402 in fiscal year 2022 and $2,247,824 in each fiscal year thereafter.
TDLR does not have a database to contain or display the information as required by the bill. According to TDLR, the agency would need $100,000 in General Revenue Funds in fiscal year 2022 for IT staff augmentation to build the searchable system for TDLR's website and create links to extract information from the licensing system and case management system, as well as create databases that contain operator criminal convictions, results of inspections conducted, and listings of inspections results which were cured within five business days by the owner.
This analysis assumes that any increased cost to TDLR, which is statutorily required to generate sufficient revenue to cover its costs of operation, would be offset by an increase in fee-generated revenue.