LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
Revision 1
April 17, 2001
TO: Honorable Paul Sadler, Chair, House Committee on Public
Education
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB2703 by Reyna, Arthur (Relating to school district
special education advocacy programs.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB2703, As Introduced: negative impact of $(20,676,000) 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. *
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(This revision was made to correct for an extraneous table contained in
the original fiscal note.)
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(10,338,000) *
* 2003 (10,338,000) *
* 2004 (10,338,000) *
* 2005 (10,338,000) *
* 2006 (10,338,000) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Change in Number of State *
* Year General Revenue Fund Employees from FY 2001 *
* 0001 *
* 2002 $(10,338,000) 5.0 *
* 2003 (10,338,000) 5.0 *
* 2004 (10,338,000) 5.0 *
* 2005 (10,338,000) 5.0 *
* 2006 (10,338,000) 5.0 *
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Fiscal Analysis
The bill directs the Texas Education Agency to distribute grants to fund
new special education advocacy programs to assist low-income families
that have a child who is or may be eligible for special education
services. The bill allows a district to use the grant funds to contract
with a nonprofit organization to establish and implement the district's
advocacy program. The bill requires that the advocacy program
disseminate information about special education programs in local and
neighborhood newspapers, church and community newsletters, and requires
posting in public areas and neighborhood businesses.
Additionally, the bill would require the district to appoint a special
education advocate for each low-income family, maintain records for each
low-income family for whom an advocate is appointed, and account for all
funds expended in connection with the program. The bill would establish
the responsibilities of the special education advocate.
The bill takes effect September 1, 2001.
Methodology
The bill does not establish a grant amount per recipient, nor does it
specifically stipulate if the program is intended to serve all eligible
recipients.
For the purposes of this estimate, it is assumed that the program is not
intended as an entitlement, and that the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
would have the responsibility to determine the appropriate distribution
of grant funds. It is assumed that the grant program would be funded
with $10 million annually. The TEA estimates that statewide, there are
approximately 275,235 low-income students who are also classified as
special education students. If the special education population were to
increase by one percent the total number of students would increase to
277,990.
It is assumed that each advocate could provide the required services for
a caseload of about 50-75 students. Using an estimate of $20,000 per
advocate, an allocation of $10 million would translate to 500 advocates,
able to serve between 25,000 and 37,500 students (about 9-13 percent of
the population).
If the program is intended as an entitlement, the entire population would
require approximately 3,700- 5,600 advocates at an annual cost of
$75-100 million.
Using the assumptions above, TEA would require about $338,000 and five
additional, full-time employees to administer the program.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
Local school districts are required under the bill to disseminate
information about special education programs and provide advocates for
eligible students.
Source Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency
LBB Staff: JK, CT, PF, UP