Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB43 by Zaffirini (Relating to the Judicial Branch Certification Commission; authorizing fees; modifying existing penalties.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Government Code to revise various provisions relating to the operations of the Judicial Branch Certification Commission (JBCC). The bill would create processes and procedures for the reissuance of licenses and would standardizes processes relating to examination, license renewal, and conducting hearings on suspended licenses to create efficiencies and uniformity in the regulation of four professions by the JBCC. The bill would also authorize the JBCC to impose a standardized graduated late renewal fee for renewing a license after its expiration and would prohibit the renewal of a license which has been expired for a year or longer. The OCA reports that this is identical to late renewal fees currently charged for two of the professions regulated by the JBCC under current law.
Based on the assessment of the Office of Court Administration (OCA), duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished by utilizing existing resources. Based on information provided by OCA, only two of the four professions regulated by the JBCC are not charged a specific late renewal fee without an automatic 1-year cancellation under current law. OCA anticipates that less than one percent of the licensees would renew their licenses under the provisions of the bill after expiration in each fiscal year based on actual amounts renewed in fiscal year 2015. Based on the assessment of the OCA and the Comptroller of Public Accounts, revenue gains to the General Revenue Fund that would be realized from new fees being assessed on the small number of licenses from the two programs not currently charging a late fee would not be significant. This analysis also assumes that any fees assessed would be set at levels necessary to generate amounts to cover the costs of operating the regulatory functions of the JBCC in accordance with statutory requirements.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts