By Solomons                                            H.B. No. 466
         77R3224 DWS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to issuance of a driver's license to a minor.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1. Section 521.204, Transportation Code, is amended
 1-5     to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 521.204.  RESTRICTIONS ON MINOR. (a)  The department may
 1-7     issue a Class C driver's license to an applicant under 18 years of
 1-8     age only if the applicant:
 1-9                 (1)  is 16 years of age or older;
1-10                 (2)  has submitted to the department a driver education
1-11     certificate issued under Section 9A, Texas Driver and Traffic
1-12     Safety Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-13     Statutes), that states that the person has completed and passed a
1-14     driver education course approved by the department under Section
1-15     521.205 or by the Texas Education Agency;
1-16                 (3)  has obtained a high school diploma or its
1-17     equivalent or is a student:
1-18                       (A)  enrolled in a public school, home school, or
1-19     private school who attended school for at least 80 days in the fall
1-20     or spring semester preceding the date of the driver's license
1-21     application; or
1-22                       (B)  who has been enrolled for at least 45 days,
1-23     and is enrolled as of the date of the application, in a program to
1-24     prepare persons to pass the high school equivalency exam; and
 2-1                 (4)  has passed the examination required by Section
 2-2     521.161.
 2-3           (b)  The department may not issue a Class A, B, or C driver's
 2-4     license other than a hardship license to an applicant under 18
 2-5     years of age unless the applicant has held an instruction permit or
 2-6     hardship license for at least one year preceding the date of the
 2-7     application.
 2-8           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
 2-9     applies only to an application submitted on or after that date.