| TO: | Honorable José Menéndez, Chair, House Committee on Defense & Veterans' Affairs |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB489 by Menéndez (Relating to rights and responsibilities of persons with disabilities, including with respect to the use of assistance animals that provide assistance to those persons; providing penalties. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would amend the Human Resources Code, Section 121 to place limitations on inquiries regarding assistance animals, making it a misdemeanor offense for those facilities or persons in violation, and making it a misdemeanor offense for those individuals misrepresenting the use of an assistance animal.
A sample of agencies including the Office of the Governor, the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), the Office of Court Administration (OCA), the Secretary of State (SOS), and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) indicate no significant fiscal impact to the state and that they could absorb the costs associated with the bill within current resources. The Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA) indicates that the revenue impact to the state cannot be determined.
The bill would take effect January 1, 2014.
The bill increases the punishment for an offense from a fine not to exceed $200 to a fine not to exceed $300, and requires 30 hours of community service. This will generate new revenue to local governments; however, new revenue is not anticipated to have a significant impact.
| Source Agencies: | 301 Office of the Governor, 307 Secretary of State, 320 Texas Workforce Commission, 538 Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, Department of, 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 539 Aging and Disability Services, Department of
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| LBB Staff: | UP, JJO, KKR, KJo, JI, LCO
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