LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 85TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

March 16, 2017

TO:	Honorable Kelly Hancock, Chair, Senate Committee on Business & Commerce
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB115 by Huffines (Relating to the Internet broadcast of certain open meetings.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend Chapter 551 of the Government Code to require certain agencies to broadcast open meetings live over the internet and make an archived broadcast available online for two years. The bill would apply to agencies within the executive or legislative branch that receive an annual appropriation of $40 million or more in General Revenue, including transfers, and have 250 or more full-time equivalent employees. The bill would apply only to open meetings that take place on or after September 1, 2019.

Many large agencies currently comply with provisions of the bill that require video broadcasting and archiving of open meetings on the internet. Those large agencies that do not would be able to come into compliance with no significant fiscal impact. It is assumed those large agencies could implement requirements of the bill within existing resources.

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

300 Trusteed Programs Within the Office of the Governor, 302 Office of the Attorney General, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 305 General Land Office and Veterans' Land Board, 307 Secretary of State, 308 State Auditor's Office, 405 Department of Public Safety, 455 Railroad Commission, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 551 Department of Agriculture, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality, 601 Department of Transportation, 608 Department of Motor Vehicles, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 701 Texas Education Agency, 802 Parks and Wildlife Department

LBB Staff:

UP, CL, JJ, JLE, JSm, TBo