LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
  
                              March 11, 1999
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Judith Zaffirini, Chair, Senate Committee on
               Human Services
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  SB30  by Shapiro (Relating to the parental notification
               required before an abortion may be performed on a minor;
               providing a criminal penalty), Committee Report 1st
               House, Substituted
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
*                                                                        *
*  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 bill would allow a court to issue an order to the State that would
require the State to pay the court costs associated with a minor's
application to seek judicial consent for an abortion without parental
(conservator or guardian) notification.  Specifically, the bill would
require the court-ordered amount to be paid from funds appropriated to
the Department of Health in D.1.2. Strategy: Family Planning.  Senate
Bill 2 (General Appropriations bill) would appropriate $129 million in
All Funds and $6 million in General Revenue Match for Medicaid to the
family planning services strategy for the 2000-01 biennium. It is the
opinion of the Department of Health that federal family planning funds
and the General Revenue Funds appropriated to match them cannot be used
to cover abortion-related court costs.

The Department of Health estimates that 5,523 pregnant minors in Texas
chose abortion in 1997. According to TDH, research shows that 39 percent
of pregnant minors do not involve parent(s) or other legally responsible
adults in making decisions on abortion.  It is assumed that 10 percent of
the minors who do not involve a parent would use the courts to avoid
notifying a parent.  According to the agency, the Department of Health
would incur court expenditures for 216 minors.  The estimated cost of
fees for an attorney ad litem or a guardian ad litem  is $1,200 per case,
based on estimated average attorney fees of $150 per hour for 8 hours
per case. Total court costs incurred by TDH  for minors who would file
applications are estimated to be $259,200 per fiscal year.

The Department of Health would assumed that 50 percent of applications
filed by minors are denied and appealed.  According to TDH, the
department would incur the cost of appeals totaling $207,360 per year.
The estimate includes attorney fees and court reporter costs for
transcripts.

Total costs incurred by TDH for minors' applications and appeals are
estimated to be $466,560 per year.  It is assumed that these costs can
be absorbed by the department with existing resources.
  
Local Government Impact
  
Under the bill, filing fees and court costs may not be assessed against a
minor. Assuming that a court would issue an order to the State to pay
any significant court-related costs associated with the provisions of
the bill, court-related costs would be recovered by local governments.
  
  
Source Agencies:   
LBB Staff:         JK, TP, AZ, RM