Honorable Poncho Nevárez, Chair, House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2953 by Moody (Relating to a grant program to provide salary increases to full-time peace officers employed by certain local governments with limited tax bases.), As Introduced
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined at this time. The bill authorizes a grant program for salary increases to full-time police officers employed by certain local governments and would be dependent of future appropriations by the legislature.
The bill would amend the Government Code to require the Office of the Governor to establish a grant program to award grants to qualifying local governments to provide that starting salaries of all police officers employed by a qualifying local government is at least $32,500 per year. The bill requires that grants shall be awarded from money appropriated to the Office of the Governor for this purpose and that the Governor is not required to award a grant under this section during any period for which money is not appropriated for this purpose.
The bill would provide the basis for the Office of the Governor to award grants for this purpose, however, the specific impact to the state is unknown as the program would be depended on future appropriations by the legislature and those appropriations are currently unknown.
The provisions of the bill relating to the Office of the Governor would take effect September 1, 2021.
The bill would require the Comptroller, using existing resources, to conduct a study for the two year period beginning September 1, 2021 to determine the amount of money needed to fully fund the grant program and submit the findings in a report not later than January 1, 2021. This provision of the bill takes effect September 1, 2019.
Local Government Impact
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined at this time.
Source Agencies:
300 Trusteed Programs Within the Office of the Governor, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts