Honorable René Oliveira, Chair, House Committee on Business & Industry
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2053 by Oliveira (Relating to the enforcement of workers' compensation compliance and practice requirements.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Labor Code as it relates to the enforcement of workers' compensation compliance and practice requirements. Under the provisions of the bill, the pecuniary value thresholds would increase for the criminal penalties of certain offenses related to certain kinds of workers' compensation fraud. The punishment for these offenses would range from a Class A Misdemeanor to a state jail felony with the punishment level based on the specific circumstances of the offense.
A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years or Class A Misdemeanor punishment, and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Increasing the pecuniary threshold for these criminal offenses is expected to result in reduced demands on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to a potential decrease in the number of individuals sentenced to a term of supervision in the community or to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. The data currently collected at the statewide level for these offenses are based on a range of values and not the precise dollar amount necessary to identify and isolate those cases that would no longer be subject to state jail felony punishment. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant reduction on the demand for state correctional resources. In fiscal year 2016, fewer than 10 individuals were arrested and fewer than 10 were placed under felony community supervision for offenses related to certain kinds of workers' compensation fraud.