LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
March 22, 2011

TO:
Honorable Byron Cook, Chair, House Committee on State Affairs
 
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB608 by Zerwas (Relating to state agency reports on the cost of services and benefits provided to undocumented immigrants.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

This bill would amend the Government Code to require each state agency to annually submit to the Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA) a report of the cost of services and benefits provided to undocumented immigrants. The bill provides that agencies may consider either certain statements and information provided by the recipient of services and benefits or an aggregated statistical method to determine the number of undocumented immigrants served. The bill would require the CPA to produce a biennial report to the legislature regarding the estimated financial impact of undocumented immigrants on the state budget and economy.

 

Some agencies noted that forms would need to be changed to comply with the provisions of this bill. The CPA and other agencies would have additional reporting requirements as a result of this bill. It is assumed that the cost of amending forms and additional reporting could be absorbed within existing resources. Several agencies indicated it would be difficult to determine the number of undocumented immigrants being served and they would contract with another entity to develop a statistical model to estimate the number of undocumented immigrants that are provided benefits or services. These agencies indicated that the cost of contracting for the development of this model would not be significant.


Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
302 Office of the Attorney General, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 307 Secretary of State, 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 332 Department of Housing and Community Affairs, 403 Veterans Commission, 405 Department of Public Safety, 454 Department of Insurance, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 608 Department of Motor Vehicles, 694 Youth Commission, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 701 Central Education Agency, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board
LBB Staff:
JOB, KJG, JI, MM, PJK