Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB229 by Troxclair (Relating to general definitions for and collection of governmental information regarding biological sex.), As Engrossed
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB229, As Engrossed: a negative impact of ($2,568,300) through the biennium ending August 31, 2027.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026
($2,568,300)
2027
$0
2028
$0
2029
$0
2030
$0
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
2026
($2,568,300)
2027
$0
2028
$0
2029
$0
2030
$0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would require a governmental entity that collects vital statistics information that identifies the sex of an individual for the purpose of complying with antidiscrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering public health, crime, economic, or other data to identify each individual as either male or female.
Methodology
According to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Crime Records Division (CRD) collects Male, Female, and Unknown data for criminal justice systems, records, and state repositories. To comply with the provisions of the bill, each CRD data repository would require programming updates to prohibit the use of Unknown as a identifier. DPS estimates $2,370,000 in General Revenue Funds for fiscal year 2026 only. Additionally, DPS estimates $198,300 in General Revenue Funds in fiscal year 2026 only to update training materials, system documentation, audit guidelines, and other supporting documents to reflect the update to CRD data repositories.
According to the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), all births, deaths and fetal deaths are electronically reported through the Texas Electronic Vital Events Registrar (TxEVER). DSHS currently lists the biological sex on the birth, death, and fetal death certificates, and TxEVER provides options for male, female, and unknown/not yet determined. DSHS would work with the TxEVER vendor to remove the options for unknown/not yet determined. This can be completed with existing resources.
Technology
DPS estimates $2,370,000 in General Revenue Funds for fiscal year 2026 only for change orders to update CRD data repositories.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
405 Department of Public Safety, 537 State Health Services, Department of