LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 80TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 9, 2007

TO:	Honorable Frank Corte, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2603 by Escobar (Relating to discounts on highway tolls offered to certain disabled veterans.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Transporation Code to authorize a Regional Tollway Authority to issue vehicle tags to a veteran with a service-connected disability, as defined by the Veteran's Administration, to provide a discount for either the entire cost or a portion of the cost of tolls. The commissioner of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) would be authorized to formulate by rule guidelines to allow disabled veterans entitled to a toll road discount in one locality to enjoy comparable discounts in another locality.

The bill would take effect immediately if it were to receive the required two-thirds vote in each house; otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2007.

TxDOT indicates that rulemaking and developing guidelines could occur using existing resources. 

Local Government Impact

TxDOT reports that there are 66,677 disabled veterans' vehicles registered in the State of Texas. It is unknown how many of those vehicles would be driven on a tollroad, for how many miles, or how frequently; therefore, the fiscal impact cannot be determined, although it is anticipated that it would not be significant per regional authority.

Source Agencies:

601 Department of Transportation

LBB Staff:

JOB, ES, DB