The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to creating the criminal offenses of providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization and engaging in terrorist activities. Under the provisions of the bill, a person would commit an offense if the person knowingly provides resources or commits or conspires to commit one of the offenses outlined in the bill in support of a foreign terrorist organization. These offenses are punishable at varying felony levels depending on the specific circumstances of the offense.

A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years; a second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years; a third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years; state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years or Class A misdemeanor punishment. In addition to confinement, most felonies can be subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $4,000.

Creating a new offense for which a criminal penalty is applied and enhancing penalties for existing offenses are expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to an increase in the length of supervision and number of people placed under community supervision or an increase in the sentence length and the number of people sentenced to confinement within state correctional institutions. Complete data are not available to identify the number of people who either may have committed one of the offenses in the bill's provisions and would be eligible for an enhanced punishment or may have provided resources or support to a foreign terrorist organization. An offense as described in the bill can also be prosecuted under other existing law if the conduct constitutes an offense under the other law. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources.