LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 4, 2001 TO: Honorable Debra Danburg, Chair, House Committee on Elections FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2639 by Dutton (Relating to the inclusion of an incarcerated person in the population data used for redistricting according to the person's last residence before incarceration.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for * * HB2639, As Introduced: negative impact of $(300,000) 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. * ************************************************************************** General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact: **************************************************** * Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) * * Impact to General Revenue Related * * Funds * * 2002 $(300,000) * * 2003 0 * * 2004 0 * * 2005 0 * * 2006 0 * **************************************************** All Funds, Five-Year Impact: ***************************************************** * Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from * * General Revenue Fund * * 0001 * * 2002 $(300,000) * * 2003 0 * * 2004 0 * * 2005 0 * * 2006 0 * ***************************************************** Fiscal Analysis The bill would amend Chapter 2058 of the Government Code, relating to the inclusion of incarcerated persons in the population data used for redistricting purposes. The bill would require the Comptroller's office to prepare and disseminate an adjusted version of the redistricting population data for each geographic unit no later that September 1st, following the release of decennial census data for use in redistricting. The adjustment would allocate the population count of persons housed in a federal, state, or local correctional facility, or in a mental institution, at the time of the decennial census, and who were counted as residing in that facility in the decennial census. The bill would require each state and local governmental entity that operated a facility housing prisoners to submit a report no later than June 1st following the release of decennial census data to the Comptroller's office showing for each prisoner: the prisoners name; age; gender; race; ethnicity; and last residence address before incarceration. The Comptroller's office would request the same information from federal agencies operating correctional facilities in Texas. The bill would require that no later than October 1, 2001, the state and local governmental entities noted above would provide the Comptroller's office with the report for prisoners incarcerated on April 1, 2000; and no later than January 1, 2002, the Comptroller's office would prepare and disseminate the adjusted population counts. This provision would expire January 1, 2003. Methodology The Comptroller's office anticipates a one-time administrative cost of $300,000 in general revenue in fiscal year 2002 for consultant services. According to the Comptroller's office, the consultants would collect the prisoner data from federal, state, and local correctional facilities, analyze the prisoner data to determine which records could become a portion of the adjustment database, assign each prisoner address to a unit of census geography (tracks and blocks) and enter all the data into a computerized prisoner database. The consultants would also aggregate the prisoner data into totals for each census geographic unit (maintaining detail for age, sex, race, and ethnicity), and prepare and disseminate data files for state and local governmental entities to use in redistricting. Local Government Impact No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Dallas county, McClennan county, and Brazos county were contacted. Local officials indicated the cost for extra staff time and compilation of the report would be minimal in relation to their overall expenditures. Source Agencies: 694 Texas Youth Commission, 655 TX Dept. of Mental Health & Mental Retardation, 409 Texas Commission on Jail Standards, 696 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, TB, JC, DW