Honorable John Kuempel, Chair, House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1085 by Márquez (Relating to the filing of financial disclosure statements by trustees of an independent school district; providing criminal and civil penalties.), As Introduced
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Education Code to modify the way in which boards of trustees of an independent school district file financial statements. The bill would require the financial statements to be filed with the commissioners court of a county. Depending upon the amount of days that such filing statements are late, different financial penalties would be assigned. Under the provisions of the bill, Section 11.064(a-1), (a-2), (a-3), and (a-4) and Section 11.0641 of the Education Code would be repealed.
The bill would have no direct fiscal implications for the Foundation School Program (FSP) or the operations of the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
Local Government Impact
The civil penalties established by the bill could be revenue for a county; however, these costs would depend on the number of cases, if any, and would only apply in the event of noncompliance.
Members of school district boards of trustees would be required to file financial statements with the board of trustees and the commissioners court. This requirement could be burdensome for small ISDs that have limited qualified candidates.
There would be costs associated with the provisions of the bill. The cost to a commissioners court would depend on the existing resources of each commissioners court.
Lubbock County reported the county would need additional staff, training and office supplies to implement the provisions of the bill.
Source Agencies:
356 Texas Ethics Commission, 701 Central Education Agency