| TO: | Honorable Joseph Pickett, Chair, House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2320 by Parker (Relating to establishing a pilot program for driver education schools to administer certain driver's license examinations; authorizing fees.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend the Transportation Code, Chapter 521 to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to establish and monitor a pilot program that permits commercial driver education schools to administer driving tests in counties with a population of at least 662,000 and that are adjacent to three or more counties with a population of 782,000 or more. According to DPS, the population criteria stated in this bill allows only Denton County to participate in the pilot program. The bill would permit the agency to set a fee for commerical driver education programs to participate in the pilot to offset program costs.
The pilot program expires September 1, 2017. The bill requires DPS to adopt rules for the pilot by January 1, 2014. The bill would take effect September 1, 2013.
DPS estimates that there would be a cost associated with implementing provisions of the bill. It is anticipated that the costs could be absorbed within current agency resources. In addition, the costs could be offset by the fees permitted under the bill's provisions. The agency anticipates indeterminate fee revenues due to uncertainty about the number of customers that would opt to take a driving test at a commercial school rather than at DPS.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) does not anticipate a fiscal impact as a result of changes made by the bill.
| Source Agencies: | 405 Department of Public Safety, 701 Central Education Agency
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| LBB Staff: | UP, ESi, JI, JJO, KKR
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