TO:	Honorable Terry Canales, Chair, House Committee on Transportation
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB4679 by Perez (relating to a highway toll exemption for public school buses in certain counties.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

The bill would amend Chapter 372 of the Transportation Code to prohibit a toll project entity from requiring a school bus that is exempt from payment of vehicle registration fees to pay a toll for use of a toll project in a county with a population of more than four million. The bill specifies that this provision would not affect a toll project entity's ability to adopt policies or rules regarding the use of a toll project or managed lane, including rules prohibiting the use by vehicles unable to maintain minimum designated travel speeds.

The bill would affect toll projects located in Harris County. Based on the information provided by TxDOT, it is assumed implementation of the bill would impact toll collections on the Grand Parkway Transportation Corporation's (GPTC) toll projects (SH 99 Grand Parkway). Because the number of waived transactions that may occur on the GPTC's toll project facilities is unknown, the potential negative impact to toll revenue and costs to replace lost toll revenue cannot be determined at this time. However, this analysis assumes implementation of the bill would not result in a significant fiscal impact to the State.

Local Government Impact

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