LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

February 21, 2009

TO:	Honorable Jeff Wentworth, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB497 by Wentworth (Relating to compensation paid to certain judges and justices.), As Introduced

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Government Code by making the Judiciary Section, Comptroller's Department, rather than the Texas Judicial Council the entity responsible for the payment of salary supplements for district judges presiding over asbestos- or silica-related multidistrict litigation cases. Funding for the supplements are $63,250 each fiscal year. The bill would also clarify that judicial longevity pay does not constitute additional salary for purposes of determining whether a judge's salary exceeds the statutory maximum. Because the bill would transfer statutory authority for paying the salary supplements from one agency to another, no fiscal implication is anticipated. 

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts

LBB Staff:

JOB, TP, TB