LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
February 19, 2001
TO: Honorable Elliott Naishtat, Chair, House Committee on
Human Services
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB474 by Naishtat (Relating to eligibility
recertification requirements for certain recipients of
food stamps.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB474, As Introduced: positive impact of $1,716,951 through the *
* biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* 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 *
* 2002 $995,003 *
* 2003 721,948 *
* 2004 673,159 *
* 2005 691,001 *
* 2006 691,001 *
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All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Probable Change in Number of *
* Year Savings/(Cost) from Savings/(Cost) from State Employees from *
* General Revenue Fund Federal Funds - FY 2001 *
* 0001 Federal *
* 0555 *
* 2002 $995,003 $995,003 (60.0) *
* 2003 721,948 721,948 (43.0) *
* 2004 673,159 673,159 (40.0) *
* 2005 691,001 691,001 (41.0) *
* 2006 691,001 691,001 (41.0) *
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Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend Chapter 33, Human Resources Code by adding Section
33.015. The proposed section would allow the Department of Human
Services (DHS) to conduct a recertification interview for food stamp
recipients by telephone if the recipient and all household members are
elderly or disabled and have no earned income, or if the recipient
claims a hardship as defined by the department. The bill would require
recipients have at least one face-to-face interview per year at a local
office. The effective date of the bill is September 1, 2001.
Methodology
DHS states their cost estimate used data from November 2000 to determine
the percent of the Food Stamp (FS) caseload where someone lives in a
rural area, works, is ill or is needed to care for an ill family member,
or is elderly or disabled and has no income. DHS indicated they did not
have information on people with transportation difficulties. About half
of the FS cases meet one of the above criteria. DHS assumed that seven
percent of those that meet the criteria have a 12 month certification
period and would not be impacted by the provisions of the bill. DHS also
assumed that 38 percent of those meeting the criteria would have one
phone interview a year because they have a six month review schedule and
55 percent would have three phone interviews a year because they average
a three month review schedule. DHS also assumed that 20 percent would
not complete the phone interview and would have the face-to-face
interview. DHS estimated that a net savings of about 11.5 minutes would
occur but would be offset by the need for an additional five minutes to
handle the increase in the number of pended cases, as workers would have
to wait for information from the clients before completing the
recertification. In addition, DHS estimated that about half of those
denied for not keeping their appointment already come back at a later
time; but about 40 percent of the remaining families would complete a
phone-in interview and be certified. DHS assumed a reduction in workload
due to Food Stamp recertifications being done over the phone rather than
through face-to-face interviews. FTE savings are 50 percent state, 50
percent federal. Client benefits accruing to qualified clients not
reflected above are approximately $8.7 million in FY 2002 and $14.9
million in FY 2003, in federal funds. Client benefits for fiscal years
2003-06 are approximately $16.5 million each year in federal funds.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies: 324 Texas Department of Human Services
LBB Staff: JK, HD, KF, ML