HBA-TBM H.B. 3164 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3164 By: Chavez Public Education 4/12/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, school district prekindergarten programs are not required to comply with child-care licensing standards adopted by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS). This means that some programs might be short staffed or not comply with health and safety standards. Such noncompliance may threaten the safety and health of children. House Bill 3164 requires a school district kindergarten program to comply with child-care licensing standards adopted by TDPRS. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the State Board of Education in SECTION 1 (Section 29.153, Education Code). ANALYSIS House Bill 3164 amends the Education Code to provide that at a minimum a school district (district) prekindergarten program must comply with the applicable child-care licensing standards adopted by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS). The bill requires the State Board of Education by rule to ensure the district's compliance with the standards. Before a district is authorized to initiate a new prekindergarten program, the district is required to investigate the possibility of sharing program sites with existing child-care programs licensed by PRS and existing federal Head Start programs and to coordinate the use of those sites to the greatest extent possible. The bill requires the district to also investigate and implement to the greatest extent possible coordinated use of licensed child-care and Head Start sites with existing prekindergarten programs. A prekindergarten program established before the effective date of this Act is not required to comply with the applicable child-care standards adopted by PRS until September 1, 2004. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.