TO:	Honorable Ryan Guillen, Chair, House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB3858 by Frazier (Relating to the establishment of mental health wellness units within law enforcement agencies.), As Introduced

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would require each law enforcement agency to establish and maintain a mental health wellness unit for the agency's peace officers. The bill would establish a peace officer mental health fund as an account in the General Revenue Fund comprised of money appropriated by the legislature, gifts and grants, and the earnings of the fund. The bill would establish a peace officer mental health grant program to be administered by the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to assist local law enforcement agencies in establishing and maintaining mental health wellness units.

Methodology

The analysis assumes HHSC would require 6.0 additional full-time equivalents (FTEs) to implement the peace officer mental health grant program as described in the bill. This would include 2.0 Program Specialist VIs to provide technical assistance, monitor grantee progress, track and collect expenditure and performance data, and coordinate with stakeholders; 1.0 Program Specialist VII to provide senior-level consultative services, evaluation, and technical assistance work; 2.0 Contract Specialist Vs to manage contracts, monitor performance, provide assistance to contractors, and conduct financial reviews; and 1.0 Program Specialist V to perform onsite and desk reviews, assess monitoring needs, and produce findings and reports. Costs for FTEs, including salary, benefits, technology, furniture, and supplies would total $0.7 million per fiscal year.

The cost estimate includes only the cost to administer the program and does not include funding required to provide grants to local law enforcement agencies. The fund would require appropriations beyond the administrative costs for HHSC to actually implement the grant program, but the cost for grants would depend on the preferred scale of the program. According to HHSC, there are over 2,700 law enforcement agencies in Texas, so the costs to implement a mental health wellness unit for each agency would be substantial, but an estimate cannot be provided due to the unknown costs for each individual agency and the preferred scale of the grant program.

It is assumed that other state agencies could absorb costs relating to the implementation of the bill within current resources.

This legislation would do one or more of the following: create or recreate a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund, create or recreate a special or trust fund either in, with, or outside the Treasury, or create a dedicated revenue source. The fund, account, or revenue dedication included in this bill would be subject to funds consolidation review by the current Legislature.

Technology

FTE-related technology costs would be less than $0.1 million each fiscal year.

Local Government Impact

Local law enforcement agencies could experience a significant fiscal impact to implement mental health wellness units. If it is assumed that HHSC would provide grants to cover the entire cost of mental health wellness units for each agency, the local costs of implementing the bill would be fully offset by state grant funding. If it is assumed that the grant program would only cover a portion of costs for each agency or a portion of agencies, local law enforcement agencies could experience a negative fiscal impact to fully implement wellness units but an exact estimate cannot be determined.