LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
May 24, 2011

TO:
Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
 
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB174 by Jackson, Jim (Relating to the cancellation of the voter registration and to the eligibility to vote of persons who are deceased or not citizens of the United States.), As Passed 2nd House

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would require the local registrars of deaths to file with the Secretary of State (SOS) an abstract of death certificate issued under certain circumstances. The bill would also require the clerk of each court having probate jurisdiction to file abstracts with SOS for certain probate applications.  SOS would be required quarterly to obtain from the United States Social Security Administration available information specified by SOS relating to deceased residents of the state. Voter registrars would be required to cancel a voter’s registration immediately if registrars receive notice from SOS that the voter is deceased. 
 
SOS would be required to quarterly compare certain records to the statewide voter registration list and notify voter registrars if a determination is made that a voter is deceased or is not a citizen. The bill would also require certain court clerks to send a copy of persons excused or disqualified from jury service because of citizenship to SOS and the county or district attorney. 
 
It is assumed that SOS would need to create new import files to obtain the information concerning deaths from local officials and would also need to purchase death data from the National Technical Information Service. It is anticipated that that the fiscal impact of these costs would not be significant and that any additional costs associated with implementation of the legislation could be absorbed within existing resources.
 
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2011.

Local Government Impact

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


Source Agencies:
307 Secretary of State
LBB Staff:
JOB, SD, KJG, BTA