Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB893 by Johnson (relating to criminal offenses for creating and distributing certain misleading images and videos; creating a criminal offense.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would create a Class B misdemeanor offense for creating and publishing, distributing, or causing to be published or distributed, an altered image with the intent to deceive and influence the result of an election. The bill would also amend the Class A misdemeanor offense of creating a deepfake video to specify the intent to deceive, to include instances of causing the video to be created, and to remove the limitation that the offense occur within 30 days of an election. 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