Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1661 by Vasut (Relating to election supplies and the conduct of elections; creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.), As Engrossed
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would create two Class A misdemeanor offenses applicable to the authority responsible for procuring election supplies for failure to provide a certain number of ballots and failure to supplement distributed ballots. The bill would increase the penalty for the offense of failure to distribute or deliver supplies from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, the penalty for the offense of obstructing distribution of supplies from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, and the penalty for the offense of unlawfully revealing information before polls close from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony.
It is assumed that any fiscal impact and any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.
Local Government Impact
It is assumed that any fiscal impact to units of local government associated with enforcement, prosecution, supervision, or confinement would not be significant.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 307 Secretary of State