| TO: | Honorable Robert Duncan, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB148 by Burkett (Relating to aid provided to certain voters; providing criminal penalties.), As Engrossed |
The bill would amend the Elections Code to create an offense prohibiting the compensation of another for collecting balloting materials. The offense 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 offense would be a state jail felony if a defendant has been previously convicted of this offense two or more times.
A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A Misdemeanor punishment (mandatory post conviction community supervision).
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.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | UP, LM, GG, ESi
|