LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
February 28, 2001
TO: Honorable Jim Solis, Chair, House Committee on Economic
Development
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB1243 by Villarreal, Mike (Relating to monitoring by
the Texas Workforce Commission of the long-term
employment history of certain former recipients of
public assistance.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB1243, As Introduced: negative impact of $(1,006,315) 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 $(423,210) *
* 2003 (583,105) *
* 2004 (908,000) *
* 2005 (1,232,895) *
* 2006 (1,557,790) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* Year General Revenue Fund Workforce Commission Federal *
* 0001 Account - Federal *
* 5026 *
* 2002 $(423,210) $(27,060) *
* 2003 (583,105) (53,585) *
* 2004 (908,000) (79,575) *
* 2005 (1,232,895) (105,045) *
* 2006 (1,557,790) (127,910) *
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Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend Chapter 302 of the Labor Code to require the Texas
Workforce Commission (TWC), in cooperation with the Department of Human
Services, to develop and implement a system to monitor the long-term
employment history of individuals who are former recipients of assistance
from employment programs. The monitoring would be required for at least
one year but no more than five years. TWC would be required to report the
information gathered through this system to the Legislature not later
than March 1 of each odd-numbered year.
If enacted by a vote of two-thirds of all of the members of each house,
the bill would become effective immediately. If it is not enacted by a
two-thirds vote of each house, the bill would take effect September 1,
2001.
Methodology
TWC estimates fiscal implications of the bill would be $423,210 in fiscal
year 2002 and $583,105 in fiscal year 2003 out of the General Revenue
Fund to track the wages of former Choices program clients and $27,060 in
fiscal year 2002 and $53,585 in fiscal year 2003 of federal Food Stamp
Employment and Training (FS E&T) funds to track the wages of former FS
E&T clients. TWC assumed the bill would take effect on September 1, 2001.
Given the limited amount of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) federal funds, for the purposes of this fiscal note, General
Revenue is assumed as the method of financing for tracking the wages of
former Choices program clients. Should additional TANF federal funding be
available, the amounts of $423,210 in fiscal year 2002 and $583,105 in
fiscal year 2003 of General Revenue Costs could be financed with TANF
federal funding.
TWC estimates that The Workforce Information System of Texas (TWIST)
would need to be modified to track earnings of the former recipients of
assistance for one to five years following the last date these
individuals receive services. This modification is estimated to cost
$165,000 in fiscal year 2002 based on the projection of 1500 hours of
programming at a cost of $110 per hour.
The remaining costs in fiscal years 2002-03 are based on estimates of the
number of former Choices and FS E&T clients whose wages would have to be
tracked. TWC projects that there will be 51,642 former Choices clients
in fiscal year 2002 and 116,621 former Choices clients in fiscal year
2003. It also projects that there will be 5,412 former FS E&T clients in
fiscal year 2002 and 10,717 former FS E&T clients in fiscal year 2003.
These projections are based on historical information of the number of
clients entering employment. The estimated cost to track each client in
each year is $5 per person.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
Source Agencies: 324 Texas Department of Human Services
LBB Staff: JK, JO, RT, HL