BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 2783 |
By: Howard |
State Affairs |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Concerned stakeholders believe that newly arrived children and families from Central America who have been released from federal border patrol and immigration facilities into communities across Texas present one of the greatest humanitarian crises the United States has faced in recent history. These stakeholders assert that the tens of thousands of families, mostly mothers with children, and unaccompanied children from Central America who seek refuge in the United States to escape rampant violence, brutal gangs, deep poverty, and other challenges in their home countries have overwhelmed the state's capacity to provide assistance. Reports anticipate that this year will be the second-largest year on record for Central American child and family migration to the United States.
Stakeholders report that aid groups in Texas are trying to determine the needs of this vulnerable population and have discovered that only a small percentage of newly arrived children are receiving the support they need to be safe and thrive. These groups are concerned that the children are inadequately protected and may be exploited and otherwise placed at risk. These stakeholders report that the greatest challenge right now is the lack of data to document the most egregious risks facing children and mothers and that the state needs more information to help it address the crisis. C.S.H.B. 2783 seeks to establish a task force to study the crisis.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2783 amends the Government Code to establish the task force on asylum-seeking children to study the humanitarian and fiscal impacts of the presence of asylum-seeking children in Texas related to public education and school districts and the provision of health and human services and child protection and to produce a report outlining the status of asylum-seeking children in Texas and distribute that report to state and federal officials. The bill defines "asylum-seeking child" as a minor fleeing Central America who is seeking asylum in the United States and who has been released into a community in Texas by the Office of Refugee Resettlement or, pending an immigration hearing, United States Customs and Border Protection or United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The bill sets out the composition of the task force, sets out meeting requirements, and prohibits any member of the task force from receiving compensation for service on the task force. The bill authorizes the comptroller of public accounts to accept on behalf of the task force a gift, grant, or donation from any source to carry out the bill's purposes and specifies that the comptroller is not required to convene the task force to produce the report if sufficient private gifts, grants, or donations are not available.
C.S.H.B. 2783 requires the task force, using funds gifted, granted, or donated, to partner with an independent third party to produce a report outlining the status of asylum-seeking children in Texas. The bill requires the task force to submit the report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and comptroller and to also submit the report to the president of the United States, the secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the secretary of the United States Department of Education, and each member of the Texas delegation to the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The bill establishes that the task force is abolished and the bill's provisions governing the task force expire December 31, 2016. The bill requires the comptroller, not later than December 31, 2015, to convene the task force and, if the task force is convened, requires the task force to submit the required report not later than October 1, 2016.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2783 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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