HBA-MPM H.B. 1442 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1442 By: Hawley Public Education 4/2/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law prohibits a student from receiving a high school diploma unless the student has passed a secondary exit-level assessment test (TASS). Students of military families are often transferred to and from numerous schools during the course of their education, and may sometimes be transferred from state to state. A student such as this may be challenged by multiple exit-level testing requirements. Reciprocity for exit-level examinations may help students of military families graduate in a timely manner. House Bill 1442 exempts children of military families from TASS testing requirements if the child has satisfactorily passed a similar exit-level test required for graduation in another state. 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 1442 amends the Education Code to exempt from the secondary exit-level assessment instrument a child who moves to Texas because the student's parent, guardian, or person with legal control of the student serves in the armed forces and is assigned to duty in Texas and who would be entitled to pay resident tuition fees at a public institution of higher education if the student performed at a satisfactory level on an exit instrument that is required for high school graduation in the student's previous state of residence. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. The Act applies beginning with the 2001-2002 school year.