LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              March 15, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Teel Bivins, Chair, Senate Committee on
               Education
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  SB216  by Bernsen (Relating to the grants from the
               telecommunication infrastructure fund for telemedicine
               services.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
  
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*  No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.                    *
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Broadening the definition of telemedicine projects eligible for
telecommunications infrastructure fund (TIF) funding to include those of
for-profit entities would not represent any additional cost to the
state.  Rather, this bill would involve a redistribution of available
TIF funds in the "qualifying entities" account, which currently funds
grants to not-for-profit health facilities, institutions of higher
education, libraries and collaborative consortia of eligible entities.
To the extent that all grant funds in this account are awarded by the
TIF Board, adding another set of eligible entities may reduce the number
and/or amount of grants made to the currently eligible entities.
  
Local Government Impact
  
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   367   Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board
LBB Staff:         JK, CT, JM