By: Flynn, Zedler, Bailey, Dutton, Eissler, H.B. No. 346

et al.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to random testing of certain public school students for steroid use.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. The heading to Section 33.091, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 33.091. PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL STEROID USE; RANDOM TESTING.

SECTION 2. Section 33.091, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (b) and (h) and adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), and (f-1) to read as follows:

(b) The league shall adopt rules prohibiting a student from participating in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league unless:

(1) the student agrees not to use steroids and submits to random testing for the presence of illegal steroids in the student's body, in accordance with the program established under Subsection (d); and

(2) the league obtains from the student's parent a statement signed by the parent and acknowledging that:

(A) state law prohibits possessing, dispensing, delivering, or administering a steroid in a manner not allowed by state law;

(B) state law provides that bodybuilding, muscle enhancement, or the increase of muscle bulk or strength through the use of a steroid by a person who is in good health is not a valid medical purpose;

(C) only a physician or a person acting under the delegation and supervision of a physician in conformity with Subchapter B, Chapter 157, Occupations Code, [medical doctor] may prescribe a steroid for a person; and

(D) a violation of state law concerning steroids is a criminal offense punishable by confinement in jail or imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

(d) The league shall adopt rules for the administration of a steroid testing program under which students participating in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league are tested for the presence of steroids in the students' bodies. The rules must:

(1) require each school district to submit to the league a list of students who are subject to testing under the program;

(2) establish a statistically significant number of students to be tested;

(3) provide for the league to generate a random list of selected students to be tested by each school district for steroids;

(4) require each school district to test the selected students at a laboratory:

(A) approved by the league; and

(B) certified or accredited:

(i) by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; or

(ii) under the Forensic Urine Drug Testing Program of the College of American Pathologists;

(5) provide for a process for confirming any initial positive test result through a subsequent test conducted as soon as practicable after the initial test; and

(6) provide for a period of ineligibility from participation in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league for any student with a confirmed positive test result.

(e) Results of a steroid test conducted under Subsection (d) are confidential and, unless required by court order, may be disclosed only to the student and the student's parent and the activity directors, principal, and assistant principals of the school attended by the student.

(f) The league shall pay the costs of the steroid testing program established under Subsection (d). If necessary to provide adequate revenue to pay those costs, the league shall impose an admission fee for spectators at athletic competitions sponsored or sanctioned by the league. Revenue raised through an admission fee under this subsection shall be used only to pay the costs of the steroid testing program.

(f-1) The league shall conduct a study on the procedures used for specimen collection for the steroid testing program conducted under Subsection (d) and on whether the persons performing specimen collection services used by school districts for the steroid testing are trained and certified. The league shall submit the results of the study to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives not later than December 1, 2008. This subsection expires September 1, 2009.

(h) Subsection (b)(1) does not apply to the use by a student of a steroid that is dispensed, prescribed, delivered, and administered by a medical practitioner for a valid medical purpose and in the course of professional practice, and a student is not subject to a period of ineligibility under Subsection (d)(6) on the basis of that steroid use.

SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2007-2008 school year.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.