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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Martinez		DATE TYPED:	02/07/02		HB	353/aHTRC
SHORT TITLE:		Electronic Filing Fees				SB
					ANALYST:		Woodlee

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY02

FY03

FY02

FY03

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

No Response:

Secretary of State

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HTRC Amendment

The House Taxation and Revenue Committee amendment to House Bill 353 clarifies that the authorized additional fees are “for sale of data or records.”

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 353 proposes to reduce the electronic filing fees for commercial records. The bill also amends statute to authorize the Secretary of State to establish additional fees by adopting and publishing rules.

Significant Issues

The bill proposes to reduce electronic filing fees by eliminating the threshold of the size of electronic files that are charged a higher rate. HB 353 proposes that all electronic filings with a size greater than fifteen thousand bytes be charged twenty dollars ($20.00). Currently, statute requires that files greater than thirty thousand bytes be charged fifty dollars ($50.00) plus five dollars ($5.00) per each additional thousand bytes.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no appropriation associated with this bill. The reduction in fees should constitute a minimal fiscal impact to revenue collected by the Secretary of State. With a reduction in fees, there may be an increase in the use of electronic filings, adding to the efficiency of record collection and maintenance.

MW/ar