HBA-JEK H.B. 1296 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1296 By: Ehrhardt Public Education 4/12/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires an educational institution to provide equal opportunities to all individuals within its jurisdiction or geographical boundaries, and prohibits an educational institution from denying services to any individual eligible to participate in a school district's special education program. However, the law does not specifically prohibit an educational institution or one of its employees from discriminating against a student on account of ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin. The absence of such an anti-discrimination law may make it more difficult for some students to prove in a court of law that the discrimination they suffered was a denial of an equal education opportunity. House Bill 1296 prohibits a public educational institution or one of its employees from discriminating against a student enrolled in the institution on account of ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 1296 amends the Education Code to prohibit a public educational institution or employee of a public educational institution from discriminating against a student enrolled in the institution on account of the ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin of the student or the student's parent. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.