Honorable John T. Smithee, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2102 by Thompson, Senfronia (Relating to the continuation and functions of the state bar.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB2102, As Introduced: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2019.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2018
$0
2019
$0
2020
$0
2021
$0
2022
$0
Fiscal Year
Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from Appropriated Receipts 666
2018
$850,000
2019
$850,000
2020
$0
2021
$0
2022
$0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Government Code to extend the agency's sunset expiration date to September 1, 2029 and would require all members of the bar that have not previously done so to submit fingerprints to facilitate a Texas and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal background check, and would allow the bar to suspend or refuse to renew the license of any member that fails to do so.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2017.
Methodology
According to the State Bar and the Board of Law Examiners, there are 100,000 active state bar members. According to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), the provisions of the bill would require additional checks of all active State Bar members. DPS charges a $27.00 fee for each application for a fingerprint-based criminal background check. Of this fee amount, the agency retains $17.00 per application with these amounts counted towards the agency's appropriated receipts and the remainder remitted to the FBI.
This estimate assumes 100,000 active state bar members would be required to submit to a fingerprint-based criminal background check, or 50,000 each year of the 2018-19 biennium. Of the total revenue from this fee, DPS would retain $850,000 in appropriated receipts each year of the 2018-19 biennium (50,000 applicants X $17 retained by DPS per application).
According to the Sunset Commission, the Department of Public Safety, the Office of Court Administration, and the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the remaining provisions of the bill could be accomplished through existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
116 Sunset Advisory Commission, 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 405 Department of Public Safety