Honorable Tommy Merritt, Chair, House Committee on Public Safety
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB759 by Martinez Fischer (Relating to the creation of a hotline to report suspected incidents of impaired driving or dangerous driving.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require the Department of Public Safety to establish a 24-hour hotline for the public to report suspected incidents of driving while intoxicated, driving while under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs, or other dangerous driving. The hotline must enable a person to report an incident by calling a toll-free number, using an Internet website, or using other means of electronic communications, including e-mail messages or text-messaging. The Department of Public Safety currently has a hotline system in place that would meet the majority of requirements in this bill. The agency estimates that it would need to add five full-time equivalent positions to handle the additional messages that would result from the bill. This analysis assumes that the agency could absorb these costs under current appropriations, and therefore no significant fiscal impact is anticipated.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.