LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
March 1, 2001
TO: Honorable Mike Moncrief, Chair, Senate Committee on
Health & Human Services
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: SB46 by Zaffirini (Relating to minimum training
regarding family violence for certain state employees and
other persons administering the financial assistance
program and to identification of and services for
certain victims of family violence.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* SB46, As Introduced: negative impact of $(3,138,564) 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 $(1,811,973) *
* 2003 (1,326,591) *
* 2004 (1,326,591) *
* 2005 (1,326,591) *
* 2006 (1,326,591) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* Year General Revenue Fund Federal Funds - Federal *
* 0001 0555 *
* 2002 $(1,811,973) $(39,276) *
* 2003 (1,326,591) (39,630) *
* 2004 (1,326,591) (40,026) *
* 2005 (1,326,591) (37,704) *
* 2006 (1,326,591) (36,612) *
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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 the training and
interview costs estimated by TWC. Should additional TANF federal funding
be available, the amounts of $1,811,973 in FY 2002 and $1,326,591 in FY
2003 of General Revenue costs assumed above could be financed with TANF
federal funding.
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend Section 31.0322 of the Human Resources Code. The
Department of Human Services (DHS), the Office of the Attorney General
(OAG) which is the Title IV-D agency, the Texas Workforce Commission
(TWC), and the local workforce development boards (LWDB) would be
required to provide a minimum of four hours of family violence training
to each employee or other individual who provides information, recommends
sanctions for noncooperation and noncompliance, and assesses job
readiness or provides employment planning or employment retention
services to an individual receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) financial assistance. The bill would require that
personnel with family violence training interview all individuals who
fail to comply with child support, work, or participation requirements to
determine whether family violence contributed to the failure to comply,
and if it does, identify services that would assist the individual to
safely enter the workforce.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2001.
Methodology
The fiscal implications of the bill at DHS are estimated to be
approximately $39,276 in FY 2002 and $39,630 in FY 2003 of TANF funds
based on the agency's projection that approximately one percent of the
cases with employment penalties would be the result of domestic violence.
Therefore, these individuals would not be subject to the noncompliance
penalty of $78, effectively increasing benefits to these individuals. DHS
developed its projection of penalties based on an ad hoc run of FY 2000
data, which showed there were 16,835 new penalties imposed for
noncompliance with employment services requirements. DHS then projected
the number of penalties that would be imposed from 2002 through 2006
using the TANF caseload forecasts as of February 1, 2001.
DHS does not estimate a significant cost for interviews of the
individuals who would be subject to penalties because TWC or the LWDB
contractors' staff would actually conduct all of the interviews for
noncompliance. DHS also does not estimate any cost for family violence
training because it has already incorporated four hours of family
violence training into its Basic Skills training for all newly hired
field staff beginning in the 2000-01 biennium, and it completed family
violence training for all existing field staff as of July 31, 2000.
TWC estimates the fiscal impact of the bill to be $1,811,973 in FY 2002
and $1,326,591 in FY 2003 of General Revenue for the cost of providing
family violence training to TWC and LWDB contractor personnel and having
these personnel conduct interviews for all individuals who do not comply
with the requirements for assistance. In FY 2002, the agency also
includes $200,000 to develop a computer-based training program to
supplement the four hours of classroom training.
Family violence training would have to be provided to a small number of
TWC staff in the field offices, mainly Employment Services
Representatives, and to the LWDB contractor staff who actually provide
services on behalf of the local boards. In FY 2002, TWC estimates that
there would be 378 agency field staff and 2,817 LWDB contractor staff who
would have to receive family violence training. With an estimated annual
turnover of 15 percent, a total of 480 agency field staff and LWDB
contractor staff would have to receive family violence training in FY
2003. TWC received a cost estimate from a practicing, qualified family
violence trainer for one four-hour training session of $750, and it
estimated that 30 people could be trained in each session.
In order to interview all individuals who do not comply with the work or
participation requirements or do not cooperate with the Office of the
Attorney General, TWC estimates that it would require an average of two
hours of staff time per noncompliance case to outreach noncompliant
individuals at their homes and assess whether their noncompliance is due
to family violence. The agency projects an average monthly number of
sanction requests of 3,912 in FY 2002 and 3,770 in FY 2003, and it
assumes that one percent of the interviews would be conducted by agency
field staff and the other 99 percent of the home interviews would be
conducted by board contractor staff.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies: 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 324 Texas
Department of Human Services, 302 Office of the
Attorney General
LBB Staff: JK, HD, KE, HL, RT