Honorable Patrick M. Rose, Chair, House Committee on Human Services
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB4154 by Rose (Relating to the creation by the Health and Human Services Commission of a volunteer advocate program for certain elderly individuals.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB4154, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($958,294) 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.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2010
($479,147)
2011
($479,147)
2012
($479,147)
2013
($479,147)
2014
($479,147)
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2009
2010
($479,147)
7.0
2011
($479,147)
7.0
2012
($479,147)
7.0
2013
($479,147)
7.0
2014
($479,147)
7.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, by adding Section 531.057 and 531.0571. The bill would require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish a volunteer advocate program advisory committee and have the Executive Commissioner appoint members. HHSC would be required to provide the committee with the staff support, and pay for travel expenses of the committee members. The agency could enter into agreements with appropriate nonprofit organizations for the provision of services under the program and the Commission may accept gifts, grants, or donations for the program from any public or private source.
Methodology
The Commission estimated one FTE (Program Specialist II) would be required to support the new advisory committee. HHSC estimated the salary and benefits for the one FTE to be $63,242 and the estimated cost for each pilot site to be $121,968. The site cost consisted of salaries totaling $88,768 for two Program Specialist II and overhead, travel, and volunteer training cost estimated by HHSC to be $33,200 per year. HHSC estimated the total cost for all three sites to be $365,905. In addition, the bill allows travel for the advisory committee to be a maximum of $50,000 per year.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
529 Health and Human Services Commission, 539 Aging and Disability Services, Department of