Honorable Roland Gutierrez, Chair, House Committee on Defense & Veterans' Affairs
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB4204 by Walle (Relating to discount programs provided by toll project entities for surviving spouses of disabled veterans.), As Introduced
The bill would have an insignificant but negative fiscal impact to the state due to the small number of cases for which the tolls would be waived as a result of the bill.
The bill would amend the Transportation Code allow a surviving spouse of a disabled veteran to have tolls waived for the Central Texas Turnpike System (CTTS). According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the current bond agreements with CTTS would require TxDOT to reimburse the toll system for the waived tolls. There are 2,405 license plates registered in the state to spouses of disabled veterans, and 135 of those are registered in Travis and adjacent counties where the CTTS is located.
According to TxDOT, the fiscal impact of the bill cannot be determined due to a lack of information on how often the benefit will be utilized.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2017.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.