Honorable Robert Nichols, Chair, Senate Committee on Transportation
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1292 by Zaffirini (Relating to parking privileges for people with disabilities; authorizing a fee; amending dismissal procedures for a criminal offense.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a judge to require a defendant charged with a parking violation related to a disabled parking space to attend a disabled parking course. The bill would set conditions for deferred adjudication, and the court would be authorized to assess an administrative fee to cover the cost of the course of up to $10. The bill would amend the Transportation Code to prescribe contents of a training program under bill provisions. The bill would provide that up to 40 percent of fine revenue collected for violations regarding disabled parking spaces could be used for community education programs about people with disabilities, and to establish an advisory body. The Office of Court Administration indicates that bill provisions are not anticipated to have a significant fiscal implication for the state court system.
Based on the analysis of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), it is assumed any costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill on or after January 1, 2016, (delayed implementation) could be absorbed within the agency's existing resources. However, the DMV indicates that implementation of the bill by September 1, 2015, would require programming changes to the agency's legacy core Registration and Titling System (RTS) during the months of June and July of 2015, which would delay the development and implementation of the agency's ongoing RTS Refactoring Project. The DMV estimates the programming changes necessary to implement the provisions of the bill on the specified effective date could result in a four month delay in the RTS Refactoring Project, which could result in significant additional project costs.
Local Government Impact
According to the Office of Court Administration, justice and municipal courts report the number of parking offenses, but further detail regarding is not collected. Thus the fines and administrative fees issued specifically for violations involving disabled parking spaces or disabled parking placards is unknown. However, OCA anticipates no significant impact.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 608 Department of Motor Vehicles