Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
|
BILL: |
DATE: |
||||
|
STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
||||
|
LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
|
||||
|
STATE FUND |
FY 2007* |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
|
General
Revenue Fund (GRF) |
|||
|
Revenues |
Potential
negligible gain in locally collected state court costs |
Potential
negligible gain in locally collected state court costs |
|
|
Expenditures |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
|
Victims of
Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund 402) |
|||
|
Revenues |
- 0 - |
Potential
negligible gain in locally collected state court costs |
Potential
negligible gain in locally collected state court costs |
|
Expenditures |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
|
Occupational Licensing and
Regulatory Fund (Fund 4K9) |
|||
|
Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
|
Expenditures |
- 0 - |
No readily
discernible fiscal effect |
No readily
discernible fiscal effect |
Note: The state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. For example, FY 2007 is July 1, 2006 – June
30, 2007.
* For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, it is assumed
that any of the bill's state fiscal effects would occur sometime after FY 2007.
·
Court cost revenues. Assuming that violations of
the bill's provision will be relatively infrequent, then it seems unlikely that
the state's potential gain in annual court cost revenues deposited to the
credit of the GRF and the Victims of Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund 402) would
exceed negligible. For the purposes of
this fiscal analysis, a "negligible" amount of revenue means an
estimated gain of less than $1,000 for each of the aforementioned state funds
per year.
·
State Board of Pharmacy. Based on a conversation with
staff of the State Board of Pharmacy, incorporating the bill's provision into
the Board's ongoing day-to-day business will be relatively easy and generate no
readily discernible impact on operating costs.
The Board's day-to-day business is supported almost entirely by moneys
appropriated from Fund 4K9, the occupational licensing and regulatory board
fund that receives fees and other assessments collected by certain independent
professional and occupational state licensing boards and in turn finances the
annual operating expenses of those state boards.
|
LOCAL GOVERNMENT |
FY 2007 |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
|
|
Counties and
Municipalities |
||||
|
Revenues |
Potential gain
in court costs and fines, likely to be minimal at most |
Potential gain
in court costs and fines, likely to be minimal at most |
Potential gain
in court costs and fines, likely to be minimal at most |
|
|
Expenditures |
Potential, at
most minimal, increase to process and resolve minor misdemeanors |
Potential, at
most minimal, increase to process and resolve minor misdemeanors |
Potential, at
most minimal, increase to process and resolve minor |
|
Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year
is the calendar year. The school
district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
Local criminal justice revenues and expenditures. As of this writing, it appears that the issuance of a minor
misdemeanor citation for violating the bill's provision relative to the
selection of generically equivalent drugs for epilepsy will be relatively
infrequent. Assuming that were true, to
the degree that any county or municipality is noticeably affected by violations
of the bill's provision, such a jurisdiction seems unlikely to incur additional
operating costs, or generate additional court cost and fine revenues, in excess
of minimal. For the purposes of this
fiscal analysis, "minimal" means a potential expenditure increase and
related revenue gain estimated at no more than $5,000 for any county or
municipality per year.
|
|
Overview
The bill prohibits a
pharmacist from interchanging a drug for epilepsy or seizures without notifying
the health professional who prescribed the drug and receiving the written
consent of the prescriber and the patient.
A violation of this prohibition would be a minor misdemeanor.
Under current law, subject
to certain exceptions, a law enforcement officer does not arrest a person for
the commission of a minor misdemeanor, but does issue a citation. In lieu of appearing at the time and place
stated in the citation, the person may, within seven days after the date of
issuance of the citation, sign a guilty plea and a waiver of trial provision of
the citation, and pay the total amount of fines and costs. Each court is required to establish a fine schedule
that lists the fine for each misdemeanor; the fine may be up to, but cannot
exceed, $150 in the case of a minor misdemeanor.
Subject to certain
conditions being met, current law generally permits a pharmacist filling a
prescription for a brand name drug to select a generically equivalent
drug. Based on a conversation with
staff of the State Board of Pharmacy, it appears that citing a pharmacist for
violating existing law relative to the matter of drug substitutions is
extremely rare. It is also the case
that the Board has never been required to take disciplinary action against a
pharmacist for violating the conditions permitting drug substitutions. As of this writing, the available
information suggests to LSC fiscal staff that pharmacists will comply with the
bill's provision relative to the selection of generically equivalent drugs for
epilepsy and that noncompliance will be relatively infrequent.
Local fiscal effects
County and municipal
revenues and expenditures
As noted, LSC fiscal staff
assumes for the purposes of this fiscal analysis that the issuance of a minor
misdemeanor citation for violating the bill's provision relative to the
selection of generically equivalent drugs for epilepsy will be relatively
infrequent. Assuming that were true, to
the degree that any county or municipality is noticeably affected by violations
of the bill's provision, such a jurisdiction seems unlikely to incur additional
operating costs, or generate additional court cost and fine revenues, in excess
of minimal. For the purposes of this
fiscal analysis, "minimal" means a potential expenditure increase and
related revenue gain estimated at no more than $5,000 for any county or
municipality per year.
State fiscal effects
Court cost revenues
As noted, additional
individuals may be cited for, and either plead guilty to or be convicted of, a
minor misdemeanor related to violations of the bill's drug substitution
provision. Such an outcome creates the
possibility that the state may gain locally collected court cost revenue that
would, pursuant to current law, be deposited in the state treasury to the
credit of the GRF and the Victims of Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund 402). For a misdemeanor offense, including a minor
misdemeanor, the state court cost totals $24, with $15 of that amount being
credited to the GRF and the remaining $9 being credited to Fund 402. Assuming that such violations will be
relatively infrequent, then it seems unlikely that the state's potential gain
in annual court cost revenues would exceed negligible. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, a
"negligible" amount of revenue means an estimated gain of less than
$1,000 for each of the aforementioned state funds per year.
State Board of Pharmacy
To the degree that the bill
affects state expenditures, it will most likely be in the licensing and
regulatory activities performed by the State Board of Pharmacy. That said, based on a conversation with
staff of the State Board of Pharmacy, incorporating the bill's provision into
the Board's ongoing day-to-day business would be relatively easy and generate
no readily discernible impact on operating costs.
The Board's day-to-day
business is supported almost entirely by moneys appropriated from Fund 4K9, the
occupational licensing and regulatory board fund that receives fees and other
assessments collected by certain independent professional and occupational
state licensing boards and in turn finances the annual operating expenses of
those state boards. The fund's revenues
consist of license fees and other assessments collected by those boards, as
well as various fines and forfeitures collected by the State Board of Pharmacy.
LSC fiscal staff: Jamie L. Doskocil, Senior Budget Analyst