LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
April 12, 1999
TO: Honorable Rodney Ellis, Chair, Senate Committee on
Jurisprudence
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: SB368 by Harris (Relating to court-ordered child
support, including the child support enforcement
functions of the Office of the Attorney General and the
sunset review of those functions.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* SB368, As Introduced: positive impact of $2,940,922 through the *
* biennium ending August 31, 2001. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2000 $1,470,461 *
* 2001 1,470,461 *
* 2002 1,470,461 *
* 2003 1,470,461 *
* 2004 1,470,461 *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Probable Probable Probable *
* Year Savings/(Cost) Revenue Savings/(Cost) Savings/(Cost) *
* from Child Gain/(Loss) from TANF from Federal *
* Support from Child Federal Funds Funds *
* Retained Support 0555 0555 *
* Collections in Retained *
* the General Collections in *
* Revenue Fund the General *
* 0001 Revenue Fund *
* 0001 *
* 2000 $51,825 $1,418,636 $2,118,384 $466,425 *
* 2001 51,825 1,418,636 2,118,384 466,425 *
* 2002 51,825 1,418,636 2,118,384 466,425 *
* 2003 51,825 1,418,636 2,118,384 466,425 *
* 2004 51,825 1,418,636 2,118,384 466,425 *
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Fiscal Analysis
The bill implements the Sunset Commission recommendations relating to the
child support enforcement function at the Office of the Attorney General
(OAG). Provisions of the bill would create an interagency work group on
child support enforcement, create a county advisory work group,
establish an ombudsman program to track complaints, authorize courts to
enter temporary orders for child support after a father signs a birth
certificate or executes a statement of paternity, and modify the
memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Attorney General and the
Department of Human Services (DHS) relating to recipients of Temporary
Aid to Needy Families (TANF) and child support collections. Most of the
provisions of the bill could be implemented without a significant cost
to the agencies involved. The provisions relating to establishing
support orders based on paternity acknowlegements or birth certificates
and the provisions relating to the MOU between the OAG and DHS are
expected to have a positive fiscal impact.
Methodology
The OAG estimates that the provisions allowing a court to issue a
temporary support order based on a signed birth certificate or paternity
acknowledgement would reduce the number of paternity tests administered
each year, reducing costs by $518,250 per year. Ten percent of the
savings would be from the state's retained collections account in General
Revenue, and the other 90% would be from federal child support
enforcement funds. These provisions are also projected to result in an
increase of $3,479,390 in child support collections, with the state
retaining one-third of those increased collections. The other two-thirds
would be returned to the federal government.
The provisions in the bill relating to the MOU with DHS are expected to
result in an increase of $298,602 per year in child support collections,
with the state retaining one-third of that amount. The revised MOU is
also expected to reduce the amount spent on TANF grants by $2,118,384
per year.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
Source Agencies: 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 308
State Auditor's Office, 530 Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services, 116 Sunset
Advisory Commission, 324 Department of Human
Services, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 320
Texas Workforce Commission, 302 Office Of The
Attorney General
LBB Staff: JK, PE, PH, SC