BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 5513

By: Guillen

Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

This bill author has informed the committee that ensuring access to affordable, quality child care is a significant challenge many rural law enforcement officers and their families face. The bill author has also informed the committee that rural law enforcement officers often have limited access to child care services due to geographic, economic, and infrastructure constraints and that this lack of access can create stress for officers and their families, contribute to workforce instability, and ultimately undermine public safety in rural communities. C.S.H.B. 5513 seeks to improve job satisfaction, reduce turnover, and enhance recruitment and retention in rural law enforcement agencies by establishing a rural law enforcement child care grant program.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the criminal justice division in the governor's office in SECTION 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 5513 amends the Government Code to require the criminal justice division in the governor's office to establish and administer the rural law enforcement child care grant program to assist local law enforcement officers in rural areas of Texas with accessing child care. The bill requires the program to be designed to support rural law enforcement officers and their families by doing the following:

· providing financial assistance for child-care costs incurred by rural law enforcement officers;

· ensuring rural law enforcement officers have access to quality child-care services;

· enhancing workforce stability in rural law enforcement agencies; and

· strengthening community support systems for rural law enforcement officers.

The bill requires the division to develop policies and procedures to administer the program by establishing:

· eligibility criteria for grant recipients;

· procedures for a rural law enforcement officer or agency to apply for a grant; and

· guidance on grant amounts and reporting requirements.

The bill authorizes the division to award a grant under the program only in accordance with a contract between the division and the grant recipient that includes provisions under which the division is granted sufficient control to ensure the public purpose of providing child-care assistance for rural law enforcement officers is accomplished and Texas receives the return benefit. The bill requires the division to monitor and enforce the terms of the contract.

C.S.H.B. 5513 establishes the rural law enforcement child care fund as a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund to be administered by the criminal justice division in the governor's office. The fund consists of the following:

· money the legislature appropriates to the division for deposit to the credit of the fund for purposes of the bill's provisions;

· money received from the federal government for the purposes of the bill's provisions;

· gifts, donations, and grants to the fund, including federal grants;

· interest earned on the investment of money in the fund; and

· money from any source designated for deposit into the fund.

C.S.H.B. 5513 requires the criminal justice division in the governor's office to compile and submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, and legislature an annual report describing the following:

· the number of grants awarded in the preceding year;

· the geographic distribution of grant recipients in Texas;

· the impact of the grant program on law enforcement officer retention;

· testimonials from law enforcement officers who have benefited from a grant award; and

· recommendations for enhancements to the program.

The division must post the report on the division's publicly accessible website.

C.S.H.B. 5513 requires the criminal justice division in the governor's office to establish the rural law enforcement child care advisory committee to provide recommendations to the division on the following:

· funding priorities for the program;

· a process to review and approve grant applications; and

· improvements to the program.

The governor in the governor's discretion must appoint the following members to the advisory committee as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date:

· a representative from one or more rural law enforcement agencies;

· one or more experts on child-care policy, as determined by the governor;

· one or more representatives from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement;

· one or more interested persons from rural communities; and

· one representative from a law enforcement family advocacy organization.

C.S.H.B. 5513 requires the criminal justice division in the governor's office to adopt rules necessary to establish and implement the grant program not later than June 1, 2026.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 5513 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute changes the entity required to establish and administer the rural law enforcement child care grant program from the Department of Public Safety (DPS), as in the introduced, to the criminal justice division in the governor's office. Accordingly, the substitute also includes a provision absent from the introduced defining the term "division" as the criminal justice division in the governor's office.

The substitute changes the person required to appoint members to the rural law enforcement child care advisory committee and determine what constitutes being an expert on child-care policy for purposes of appointment to the committee from the public safety director of DPS, as in the introduced, to the governor.