| TO: | Honorable David Swinford, Chair, House Committee on State Affairs |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1201 by Ellis (Relating to creating an office of civil rights at certain state agencies.), As Engrossed |
The bill would require The Texas Department of Transportation and the Department of Criminal Justice to establish a civil rights office and employ a director of civil rights that reports directly to the head of the state agency. It grants the Director of Civil Rights exclusive responsibility for investigating and ruling on the merits of an informal complaint of employment discrimination. The Civil Rights Office must establish voluntary mediation policies and procedures for resolving informal complaints of employment discrimination. The procedure must include the use of independent mediators approved by the director of Civil Rights. The Civil Rights Office would have no responsibility for responding to a "formal" complaint of employment discrimination.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice reports there would be additional costs associated with this bill, however, this estimate assumes these costs could be reasonably absorbed through the reorganization and utilization of current agency resources.
| Source Agencies: | 601 Department of Transportation, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 302 Office of the Attorney General, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 405 Department of Public Safety, 453 Workers' Compensation Commission, 454 Department of Insurance, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 530 Department of Family and Protective Services, 537 Department of State Health Services, 539 Department of Aging and Disability Services, 694 Youth Commission, 802 Parks and Wildlife Department
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, SR, LB, WP
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