Sources of Revenue:

General Fund

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund

Fiscal Note Summary

Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.

The purpose of this bill is relative to parental involvement in the minor’s decision to obtain an abortion. The bill requires physicians to obtain proof of age prior to the performance of an abortion on a pregnant woman. The bill provides for a constructive notice to parents of minors, and maintains information for a specified period in the minor’s medical file. The bill creates penalties. The bill also provides for collection of fetal tissue in instances when the minor alleges sexual assault. Finally, the bill mandates specific reporting requirements. This legislation would require the Department to develop as many as 8 new forms (certifications and affidavits); modify a current form; promulgate legislative rules regarding the forms, track additional information either through a new process or by promulgating legislative rules to amend time lines and reporting procedures, develop instructions for form completion; and mail copies of all forms and instructions for each, as well as a copy of Chapter 16, Article 2F of the West Virginia Code to the approximately 7,000 MDs and DOs licensed to practice in West Virginia annually. In addition, the data will need to be collected, analyzed, and published annually. The Department estimates the fiscal impact of this legislation to be $30,290 the first year and $25,010 for each year thereafter. Although there is authorization in the legislation for a late reporting fee to be collected, the Department is unable to provide a revenue estimate.

Fiscal Note Detail

Effect of Proposal	Fiscal Year
Effect of Proposal	2008 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	2009 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	Fiscal Year (Upon Full Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost	0	30,290	25,010
Personal Services	0	11,294	9,014
Current Expenses	0	18,996	15,996
Repairs and Alterations	0	0	0
Assets	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0
2. Estimated Total Revenues	0	0	0

Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):

The Department estimates the costs as: Personal Services salary and fringe benefits: 0.075 FTE for management / supervisory staff project coordination - $4,558, 0.1 FTE research analyst /programmer to prepare the data entry systems for collection and perform analysis - $3,557; Data Entry Operator - $919; Clerical Support - $2,260 for total of $11,294. Current expenses: 7,000 9x12 envelopes - $434; Postage and Handling- $7,420; Printing Costs - $7,142; Legal Costs for review of forms and instructions and assistance in writing and filing legislative rules - $3,000; other miscellaneous costs - $1,000 = $18,996. The Department estimates the FY2010 costs to be much the same as FY 2009 with the exception that there will be no need for legal costs for review of forms and instructions and legislative rule assistance of $3,000 and Personal Services will be reduced to $9,014 primarily due to reduced involvement by the Project Manager after the first year. The estimated costs reflect the possible use of existing Department reporting requirements onto current forms and processes through legislative rules, thereby reducing estimated costs.

Memorandum

This bill contains multiple technical errors and areas of vagueness that make it difficult and perhaps impossible for the Department to ascertain the extent of its powers and responsibilities mandated by the bill. Therefore, the costs associated with this fiscal report may change if and when these issues are clarified. Succinctly, this bill appears to completely remove the “judicial waiver” provision, currently provided by Section 16-2F-4. Nevertheless, section 16-2F-6(b)(4) of the proposed bill requires physicians to report the number of abortions “after receiving judicial authorization to do so without parental notification”. Further, section 16-2F-6(f) requires the Department to issue a report containing, among other things, “statistics …from the Supreme Court of Appeals giving the total number of petitions or motions filed under [section 16-2F-5(a)]”. Section 5(a) does not exist as part of the current version of the proposed bill. Note, that 2006 SB No. 519 contained a section cited as 16-2F-5(a), which outlined the procedure for “judicial authorization” of certain abortions without parental consent. This bill does not provide a mechanism for the Department to independently oversee or track whether the physicians are making the required reports. These are just some examples of technical errors and ambiguities that make it difficult to accurately project the bill’s fiscal impact on the Department.

Person submitting Fiscal Note: Martha Yeager Walker
Email Address: fnbudoff@wvdhhr.org