LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                          Austin, Texas

                           FISCAL NOTE
                       74th Regular Session

                          March 27, 1995



 TO:     Honorable Pete Patterson, Chair        IN RE:  House Bill No. 2245
         Committee on Agriculture & Livestock           By: Black
         House of Representatives
         Austin, Texas






FROM: John Keel, Director

In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on House Bill No.
2245 (Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas
Animal Health Commission; providing administrative and criminal
penalties.) this office has determined the following:

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal
basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions
of the bill.

The Texas Animal Health Commission is subject to the provisions
of the Texas Sunset Act, and unless continued in existence by the
legislature, will be abolished effective September 1, 1995.

The bill would continue the Texas Animal Health Commission and
make several changes to the enabling statute.  Some of the
significant changes include authorizing the commission to charge
and collect fees for services provided, requiring the
registration of livestock dealers, authorizing the commission to
assess administrative penalties, and standardizing exotic
livestock regulation with traditional livestock.

The amount set forth for the administration of this agency in the
General Appropriation Bill, as introduced, (FY 96 = $11,749,679;
FY 97 = $11,749,679) would be contingent upon passage of HB 2245
or similar legislation.  The appropriations would be financed
from the General Revenue Fund and federal funds, and would
provide for approximately 264 employees.

The bill authorizes the Texas Animal Health Commission to set and
collect fees to recover costs associated with animal disease-    




control programs.  However, the language of the provision  is
permissive and the fee levels and revenue collected cannot be
estimated.

The bill authorizes the Texas Animal Health Commission to
register livestock dealers, as defined by commission rule, and
collect a fee sufficient to recover the costs of administering
the dealer registration program.  Because any cost associated
with this registration should be recovered by the authorized fee,
no fiscal implications are anticipated.

The bill also authorizes the Texas Animal Health Commission to
assess administrative penalties for violations of the law or
Commission rules or orders with any amounts collected deposited
to the General Revenue Fund.  Because this provision is
permissive, the Commission's actions in assessing penalties is
not known and the fiscal impact cannot be determined.

The fiscal impact to the state cannot be estimated.

No fiscal impact to units of local government is anticipated.





Source:   Sunset Advisory Commission
          LBB Staff: JK, JH, DF