Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vote No; Amend | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Negative | Negative |
Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of criminal mischief involving impairment or interruption of access to an automated teller machine.
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
SB 516 would make the intentional impairment or interruption of access to an automated teller machine a third-degree felony criminal mischief offense, regardless of the pecuniary loss to the owner.
Texas Action opposes SB 516 which penalizes the impairment of an ATM with a third-degree felony, punishable with 2 to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. While we are not opposed to penalizing impairment of an ATM, it is important that the punishment is proportional to the crime. In this instance, we believe that a third-degree felony is not proportional and recommend the bill be amended with a lower punishment.