LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 85TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

May 27, 2017

TO:	Honorable Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor, Senate Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB29 by Thompson, Senfronia (Relating to prostitution and the trafficking of persons, civil racketeering related to trafficking, the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of and punishment for certain sexual offenses and offenses involving or related to trafficking, reimbursement of certain costs for criminal victims who are children, and the release and reporting of certain information relating to a child; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses.), Conference Committee Report

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend various codes as they relate to human trafficking and crimes of public indecency, such as prostitution. The Comptroller of Public Accounts indicates that while the bill would establish a new finable misdemeanor offense, the amount of revenue collected as a result of this offense cannot be determined. It is assumed that any additional workload or responsibilities associated with the bill would not be significant and could be absorbed within the existing resources of affected agencies. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions for criminal offenses would not result in a significant impact on state correctional agencies. The bill would take effect September 1, 2017 and apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of the Act.

Local Government Impact

The bill modifies certain misdemeanor offenses and creates a new misdemeanor offense. Costs associated with enforcement and prosecution of modified misdemeanor offenses could likely be absorbed within existing resources. Revenue gain from fines imposed and collected for modified misdemeanors is not anticipated to have a significant fiscal implication. According to the Texas Association of Counties, the fiscal impact to counties to implement the provisions of the bill related to modified misdemeanors is not anticipated to be significant.

Source Agencies:

212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 405 Department of Public Safety, 407 Commission on Law Enforcement, 302 Office of the Attorney General, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 307 Secretary of State, 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 452 Department of Licensing and Regulation, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board

LBB Staff:

UP, KJo, LM, JJ, AKU, AG, JSm, ASa, GDz, JGA