TO:	Honorable Kelly Hancock, Chair, Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	SB1818 by Hancock (Relating to the issuance of a provisional license to certain military service members, military veterans, and military spouses to engage in a business or occupation in this state.), As Introduced

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1818, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($1,455,629) 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.

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026	($767,054)
2027	($688,575)
2028	($688,575)
2029	($688,575)
2030	($688,575)

Fiscal Year	Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1	Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2025
2026	($767,054)	5.5
2027	($688,575)	5.5
2028	($688,575)	5.5
2029	($688,575)	5.5
2030	($688,575)	5.5

The bill would amend the Texas Occupations Code, related to the licensing of military service members, military veterans, and military spouses, to require state agencies that issue a license to issue a provisional license to military service members, military veterans or military spouses upon receipt of an application for a license. The bill would only apply to individuals who either hold a current equivalent license issued by another jurisdiction or held the same license in the state up to five years prior. The provisional license would expire upon the approval or disapproval of the application or after 180 days.

Section 55.009 of the Texas Occupations Code waives all licensing and examinations fees for the affected population of this bill. As occupational licensing agencies are required to generate revenue equal to the cost of their appropriations, costs associated with this bill may result in fee increases for other occupational licensee populations.

This bill would take effect September 1, 2025.

Based on the analysis of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), the agency would require additional staff to implement the provisions of the bill as it does not currently issue provisional licenses and has no function to do so in its licensing databases. TDLR anticipates and this estimate assumes that the agency would require 5.5 additional full-time equivalent (FTEs) positions to implement the provisions of the bill beginning in fiscal year 2026. Three Programmer positions ($100,618 per year with $30,084 in estimated benefits), 1.5 Information Technology Business Analyst positions ($75,609 per year with $22,607 in estimated benefits), a 0.5 Database Administrator ($46,860 each year with $14,011 in estimated benefits), and a 0.5 Project Manager ($45,132 per year with $13,494 in estimated benefits) would be responsible for implementing provisional licenses into all licensing database systems and maintaining the feature to allow for the provisional licenses to be monitored and tracked accordingly. Additionally, this estimate assumes annual costs of $29,543 for operating expenses, and one-time costs of $30,000 for the change order to the database vendor and $48,479 for agency equipment in fiscal year 2026.

Based upon the analysis of other state occupational licensing agencies, costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 17, 2025