LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 78TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

May 29, 2003

TO:	Honorable Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:	John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB3378 by Hope (Relating to granting statutory authority to certain governmental entities to reduce certain expenditures and to the operation of certain funds. ), As Passed 2nd House

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for Committee Substitute for HB 3318: a direct positive impact of $80,311,000 on the amount available for certification from the General Revenue Fund in the biennium ending August 31, 2005.

The bill would re-create the System Benefit Fund and the Subsequent Injury Fund as dedicated accounts in the General Revenue Fund. (The System Benefit Fund is currently a trust fund, and the Subsequent Injury Fund is currently a special fund outside the General Revenue Fund.) Making these funds accounts in the General Revenue Fund would increase the amount available for certification from the General Revenue Fund in the 2004-05 biennium.

Making the System Benefit Fund a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund would increase the amount available for certification from the General Revenue Fund in the 2004-05 biennium by $45,866,000. Making the Subsequent Injury Account a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund would increase the amount available for certification from the General Revenue Fund in the 2004-05 biennium by $34,445,000.

Additional certification gains would depend on the level of appropriation from these two accounts. For the purpose of illustration, Conference Committee actions, to date, in House Bill 1, the General Appropriations Act, relating to the System Benefit Fund would yield an additional $139 million available for certification from the General Revenue Fund in the 2004-05 biennium.

The bill would move the responsibility for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) database filing fee from the Department of Insurance to insurance companies.  By requiring insurance companies to pay the NAIC database filing fee, the Department of Insurance would no longer have to collect and expend $1,500,000 each year, from General Revenue Dedicated Fund 36, for this purpose from insurance companies.

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 453 Workers' Compensation Commission

LBB Staff:

JK, EB, RT, WP, SD, JW