81(R) HB 628 - Introduced version

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 23, 2009

TO:	Honorable Todd Hunter, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	HB628 by Anchia (Relating to the establishment of a human trafficking prevention task force and the creation of a trafficking victim database.), As Introduced

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB628, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($2,974,487) through the biennium ending August 31, 2011.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2010	($1,693,973)
2011	($1,280,514)
2012	($1,066,319)
2013	($1,266,084)
2014	$0

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable (Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1	Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2009
2010	($1,693,973)	10.5
2011	($1,280,514)	12.5
2012	($1,066,319)	12.5
2013	($1,266,084)	12.5
2014	$0	0.0

SECTION 1 of the bill would amend the Government Code to establish within the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) a trafficking victim database.

SECTION 2 of the bill would amend the Government Code to establish within the OAG a human trafficking prevention task force that would develop policies and procedures to assist in the
prevention and prosecution of human trafficking crimes. Representatives from various state,
local, and non-governmental entities would be on the task force. This section would expire on September 1, 2013.

The creation of the database would require significant programming hours for the OAG since the OAG does not currently track or collect this data or statistical crime data based on any specific crime types. The proposed database would require remote access by entities (i.e. courts, district attorneys, county attorneys, and non-governmental organizations) and these entities would be required to submit an application for an account to the system. It is estimated that the data will encompass 500 to 1000 human trafficking incidents per year.

Based on this and other requirements of the bill, the OAG’s workload would increase due to:

• creating and maintaining a human trafficking database with remote access included;
• conducting and attending meetings, both in state and out of state;
• responding to human trafficking open records requests;
• reviewing existing internal and external database systems and reports;
• reviewing existing training protocols with judges, attorneys, law enforcement, sexual assault programs, and human trafficking related coalitions;
• developing and conducting training;
• implementing a media awareness campaign; and
• preparing biennial reports on data analysis and recommendations.

The OAG would require additional administrative, graphics, information, research, programming, database system, legal and investigative FTE positions as a result of this increased workload.

Select members of the Task Force would require travel, including out of state travel for meetings with Federal officials, and per diem reimbursements to attend meetings and participate in Task Force duties. An additional rider would need to be added to the OAG's bill pattern to authorize the reimbursement of travel expenses for select members of the task force.

Other responding agencies would provide representation on the Task Force but, except for travel costs, would not bear any of the costs for the Task Force. The travel costs could be absorbed within existing resources.

Technology related items for the OAG include $21,208 in FY 2010 and $3,430 in FY 2011 for network stations, software, printers, and a laptop. Other costs include $19,000 in FY2 010-2013 for Data Center storage.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.