Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB148 by Burkett (Relating to aid provided to certain voters; providing criminal penalties.), As Passed 2nd House
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Elections Code to create offenses prohibiting the compensation of another for depositing a certain amount of ballots or assisting a certain amount of voters. The offenses would be a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in jail for not more than one year or less than 30 days or confinement and a fine not to exceed $4,000. The offenses would be a state jail felony if a defendant has been previously convicted of this offense two or more times.
Creating an offense is expected to increase correctional supervision and/or incarceration populations and thereby increase demands on county and/or state correctional resources. However, it is assumed that the number of offenders supervised or incarcerated under this statute would not significantly impact state correctional agency resources.
The Secretary of State and the Department of Criminal Justice have also indicated that the provisions of the bill could be implemented within existing resources.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2013 and apply to offenses committed on or after that date.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.