SB1018

Regular Session

Relating to distribution of state traffic fine revenue received by the comptroller.

LowStandard timeline

Low Cost

Effective:2025-09-01

Enforcing Agencies

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Compliance Analysis

Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation

Implementation Timeline

Effective Date: September 1, 2025
Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025 (State Comptroller implementation). For healthcare grant recipients, fiscal impact will materialize in Q1/Q2 2026 as funds accumulate.
Agency Rulemaking: The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is not strictly required to write new rules but is expected to issue guidance regarding the disbursement of the additional ~$16 million annual surplus in Account 5111. Watch for Texas Register notices in Q4 2025.

Immediate Action Plan

1. Fleet Operators: Issue a memo to operations leadership confirming that traffic fine liabilities remain unchanged for FY2026.
2. Trauma Centers/Hospitals: Direct the CFO to adjust FY2026 revenue projections to account for an approximate proportional share of the $15M-$16M statewide increase.
3. EMS Providers: Assign a compliance officer to monitor DSHS announcements in late 2025 for supplemental grant application windows.
4. Road Contractors: Review backlog and projected state lettings; anticipate minor tightening in Texas Mobility Fund availability.

Operational Changes Required

Contracts

Trauma Facilities & EMS Providers: Review existing state grant agreements and vendor contracts with DSHS. If your funding is formula-based under Health and Safety Code Section 780.003, anticipate amendments to disbursement schedules for FY2026.
Physician Groups: Hospitals should review on-call trauma surgeon agreements. Increased state subsidies for uncompensated trauma care may impact Fair Market Value (FMV) calculations for stipends.
General Industry: No changes required.

Hiring/Training

Healthcare Finance Directors: Staff must update revenue forecasting models to reflect the 20% increase in the allocation percentage of traffic fine revenue.
Fleet Managers: Do not alter driver training regarding fine amounts. Explicitly inform management that this bill is an internal state accounting shift and does not justify increased budget allocations for traffic violations.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

Grant Utilization (Healthcare Only): Recipients of the increased Account 5111 funds must maintain strict segregation of duties and reporting to prove funds are used solely for uncompensated trauma care and EMS services, as DSHS audit scrutiny will likely increase with the funding volume.

Fees & Costs

Traffic Fines: No change. The cost of a citation remains static.
Insurance Premiums: Alert your risk management teams: Insurance carriers should not use SB1018 as a justification for rate increases, as the statutory liability and penalty costs have not changed.

Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations

The Mobility Fund "Overflow" Trap: Under current law, once the General Revenue portion of traffic fines hits $250 million, the excess flows to the Texas Mobility Fund. By reducing the General Revenue share from 70% to 50%, it will take significantly longer to reach that $250 million cap. Infrastructure contractors should note that this mathematically reduces or delays the liquidity flowing into the Texas Mobility Fund from this revenue stream, potentially impacting future road project lettings.
Disbursement Prioritization: The law increases the *amount* of money but does not mandate how DSHS prioritizes the *new* surplus. It is unclear if DSHS will apply the existing distribution formula or create a new grant tier for rural vs. urban trauma centers.

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Legislative Timeline

This bill's path through the Texas Legislature

TopicsHealth Health--emergency Services & Personnel State Finances State Finances--management & Control Vehicles & Traffic Vehicles & Traffic--rules of Road Comptroller of Public Accounts Fees & Other Nontax Revenue Fees & Other Nontax Revenue--state

Official Analysis

View HRO Analysis View All Bill Documents

BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1018
89R9260 RDR-D	By: Huffman
	Finance
	3/7/2025
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Currently, under Transportation Code Section 542.4031, the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas (comptroller) receives a portion of the fees collected from state traffic fines. Of those fees collected by the comptroller, 70 percent is deposited to the credit of the undedicated portion of the general revenue fund and 30 percent to the credit of the designated trauma facility and emergency medical services account under Section 780.003 of the Health and Safety Code. S.B. 1018 adjusts this split to 50 percent to be deposited into the general revenue fund and 50 percent into the designated trauma facility and emergency medical services account.

As proposed, S.B. 1018 amends current law relating to distribution of state traffic fine revenue received by the comptroller.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Sections 542.4031(g) and (h), Transportation Code, as follows:

(g) Requires the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas (comptroller), of the money received by the comptroller under Section 542.4031 (State Traffic Fine), to deposit:

(1) 50, rather than 70, percent to the credit of the undedicated portion of the general revenue fund; and

(2) 50, rather than 30, percent to the credit of the designated trauma facility and emergency medical services account under Section 780.003 (Account), Health and Safety Code.

(h) Makes a conforming change to this subsection.

SECTION 2. Makes application of Section 542.4031(g), Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, prospective.

SECTION 3. �Effective date: September 1, 2025.

Senate Authors

Sen. Joan HuffmanRepublican · Primary Author

Coauthors (3)

House Sponsor

Rep. Greg BonnenRepublican · Primary Sponsor

Bill Text(with markup)

S.B. No. 1018

View bill text in multiple formats on Texas Legislature website

Fiscal NoteView Original

	AN ACT
	relating to distribution of state traffic fine revenue received by
	the comptroller.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Sections 542.4031(g) and (h), Transportation
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(g) Of the money received by the comptroller under this
	section, the comptroller shall deposit:
	(1) 50 [70] percent to the credit of the undedicated
	portion of the general revenue fund; and
	(2) 50 [30] percent to the credit of the designated
	trauma facility and emergency medical services account under
	Section 780.003, Health and Safety Code.
	(h) Notwithstanding Subsection (g)(1), in any state fiscal
	year the comptroller shall deposit 50 [70] percent of the money
	received under Subsection (e)(2) to the credit of the general
	revenue fund only until the total amount of the money deposited to
	the credit of the general revenue fund under Subsection (g)(1)
	equals $250 million for that year. If in any state fiscal year the
	amount received by the comptroller under Subsection (e)(2) for
	deposit to the credit of the general revenue fund under Subsection
	(g)(1) exceeds $250 million, the comptroller shall deposit the
	additional amount to the credit of the Texas mobility fund.
	SECTION 2. Section 542.4031(g), Transportation Code, as
	amended by this Act, applies only to the distribution of revenue
	collected on or after the effective date of this Act. The
	distribution of revenue collected before the effective date of this
	Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the revenue was
	collected, and that law is continued in effect for the purpose of
	the distribution of that revenue.
	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 18, 2025

TO:	Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on Finance

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	SB1018 by Huffman (Relating to distribution of state traffic fine revenue received by the comptroller.), As Introduced

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1018, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($31,422,000) through the biennium ending August 31, 2027.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026	($15,028,000)
2027	($16,394,000)
2028	($16,394,000)
2029	($16,394,000)
2030	($16,394,000)

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from General Revenue Fund 1	Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from Trauma Facility And Ems 5111
2026	($15,028,000)	$15,028,000
2027	($16,394,000)	$16,394,000
2028	($16,394,000)	$16,394,000
2029	($16,394,000)	$16,394,000
2030	($16,394,000)	$16,394,000

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would amend Chapter 542 of the Transportation Code relating to the distribution of state traffic fine revenue received by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA).

The bill would increase the allocation of state traffic fine receipts to Account 5111 – Designated Trauma Facility and EMS from 30 percent to 50 percent and decrease the amount allocated to General Revenue Fund 0001 (GR) from 70 percent to 50 percent.

The bill would take effect September 1, 2025.

Note: This legislation would do one or more of the following: create or recreate a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund, create or recreate a special or trust fund either in, with, or outside the Treasury, or create a dedicated revenue source. The fund, account, or revenue dedication included in this bill would be subject to funds consolidation review by the current Legislature.

Methodology

Information from the 2026-27 Biennial Revenue Estimate and CPA records were used to determine the estimated amount of receipts from the state traffic fine that would be impacted by the bill. The allocations prescribed by the bill were then applied. The table below shows the result of the new allocations compared to current law based on an effective date for the bill of September 1, 2025.

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 537 State Health Services, Department of

LBB Staff:

JMc, KK, SD, BRI

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about SB1018

What does Texas SB1018 do?

Senate Bill 1018 mandates a statutory reallocation of state traffic fine revenue effective September 1, 2025, shifting the split from a 70/30 allocation to a 50/50 allocation between the General Revenue Fund and the Designated Trauma Facility and EMS Account. This legislation does not increase traffic fines or create new penalties for fleet operators; however, it creates a projected $16 million annual funding increase for trauma facilities and EMS providers while potentially reducing "overflow" revenue available for the Texas Mobility Fund. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: September 1, 2025 Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025 (State Comptroller implementation).

Who authored SB1018?

SB1018 was authored by Texas Senator Joan Huffman during the Regular Session.

When was SB1018 signed into law?

SB1018 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 29, 2025.

Which agencies enforce SB1018?

SB1018 is enforced by Comptroller of Public Accounts.

How urgent is compliance with SB1018?

The compliance urgency for SB1018 is rated as "low". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.

What is the cost impact of SB1018?

The cost impact of SB1018 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.

What topics does SB1018 address?

SB1018 addresses topics including health, health--emergency services & personnel, state finances, state finances--management & control and vehicles & traffic.

Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025

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