LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE
75th Regular Session
April 16, 1997
TO: Honorable Judith Zaffirini, Chair IN RE: Senate Bill No. 1539
Committee on Health & Human Services By: West, Royce
Senate
Austin, Texas
FROM: John Keel, Director
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on SB1539 ( Relating
to the regulation of certain facilities, homes, and agencies
that provide child care services and of child care administrators;
providing penalties.) this office has detemined the following:
Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by SB1539-As Introduced
Implementing the provisions of the bill would result in a net
positive impact of $981,302 to General Revenue Related Funds
through the biennium ending August 31, 1999.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal
basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions
of the bill.
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend Chapter 42 and Chapter 43 of the Human
Resources Code relating to the regulation of child-care facilities
and child-care administrators by the Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services (PRS).
The bill would require PRS
to conduct background and criminal history checks on owners,
operators, employees, and regular visitors associated with regulated
child-care facilities. The requirement would encompass every
child-care facility that must be licensed, certified, or registered
by PRS, including facilities that provide care, training, custody,
treatment, or supervision of children during part or all of
the 24-hour day.
The bill would require PRS to conduct the
background and criminal history checks when an application is
filed to operate a child-care facility, and at least once every
24 months after a child-care facility is licensed, certified,
or registered. Each check must include a search of child abuse/neglect
reports maintained by PRS, and a search of criminal history
record information maintained by the Department of Public Safety
(DPS). PRS by rule must require each child-care facility to
pay a fee that does not exceed the administrative costs the
department incurs in conducting the background and criminal
history check. Fee revenue would be deposited in the General
Revenue fund.
The effective date for the bill would be September
1, 1997.
Methodolgy
PRS reports that it conducted nearly 48,000 background and criminal
history checks relating to persons associated with regulated
child-care facilities in fiscal year 1996. These checks were
conducted at no cost to the facility. It is assumed that implementation
of the provision requiring child-care facilities to pay a fee
in an amount not to exceed the department's administrative costs
would generate new revenue with no additional costs.
PRS
reports that implementation of the provision requiring background
and criminal history checks at least once every 24 months would
encompass nearly 29,000 regulated child-care facilities, with
the number of persons checked per facility ranging from 2 in
a small agency foster family home to 30 in a large child-care
institution. It is assumed that implementation of this provision
would require PRS to check the background and criminal history
of 67,823 persons associated with regulated child-care facilities
each year. It is also assumed that most of these checks would
not duplicate the department's current workload.
PRS estimates
that one staff person could search 15,000 records each year.
It is assumed that 2% of the child abuse/neglect searches and
1% of the criminal history searches would result in a positive
match requiring additional staff time to fully document and
act on the case. PRS would need 21.9 additional FTE positions
to accommodate the workload associated with the new requirement
for biennial background and criminal history checks. First
year costs and revenues have been reduced by 25% to give the
department time to adopt rules and phase-in the new program.
It
is assumed that PRS would charge a fee to recover the administrative
costs associated with the background and criminal history check
requirement. These would include staffing costs, a $1 fee for
DPS criminal history searches, and a $24 fee for FBI fingerprint
searches (which would be conducted on a very small number of
individuals).
The probable fiscal implications of implementing the provisions
of the bill during each of the first five years following passage
is estimated as follows:
Five Year Impact:
Fiscal Year Probable Probable Revenue Change in Number
Savings/(Cost) Gain/(Loss) from of State
from General General Revenue Employees from
Revenue Fund Fund FY 1997
0001 0001
1998 ($735,559) $1,226,210 16.4
1998 (885,823) 1,376,474 21.9
2000 (853,989) 1,344,640 21.9
2001 (853,989) 1,344,640 21.9
2002 (853,989) 1,344,640 21.9
Net Impact on General Revenue Related Funds:
The probable fiscal implication to General Revenue related funds
during each of the first five years is estimated as follows:
Fiscal Year Probable Net Postive/(Negative)
General Revenue Related Funds
Funds
1998 $490,651
1999 490,651
2000 490,651
2001 490,651
2002 490,651
Similar annual fiscal implications would continue as long as
the provisions of the bill are in effect.
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source: Agencies: 530 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
LBB Staff: JK ,BB ,NM