HBA-MPM H.B. 2797 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2797 By: Delisi Public Education 4/20/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, one out of 13 teenaged girls in Texas gets pregnant each year, with nearly seven percent of all births in Texas to mothers younger than 18 years of age. According to the Texas Department of Health, 26.1 percent of all Medicaid births were to teenaged mothers, with the total cost of these deliveries totaling $129 million. Additionally the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control found that 46 percent of high school seniors are currently sexually active. A survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 1998 found that nearly four million teens contract an STD each year. H.B. 2797 provides that abstinence education or any human sexuality course materials or instruction related to abstinence from sexual activity must include certain tenets with respect to this topic. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 28.004, Education Code, by adding Subsection (j), as follows: (j) Provides that in addition to other provisions of this section (relating to abstinence education in public schools), any human sexuality course materials or instruction related to abstinence from sexual activity must include certain instruction with respect to this topic. SECTION 2. Makes this Act applicable beginning with the 1999-2000 school year. SECTION 3.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.