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BILL ANALYSIS |
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By: Vaught |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The U.S. Department of Defense deferment policy states that a military member is deferred from
deployment after the birth of a child or formal placement of an adopted child for four months on
temporary assignment away from the member's permanent duty station or home port. The Air
Force defers deployment for four months, the Army and Marines for six months, and the Navy
for 12 months. Mothers in the Army National Guard are eligible for state mobilization in six
months after the birth of a child and, in the Texas Air National Guard mothers are eligible for
mobilization six weeks after giving birth. Approximately 38 percent of women in active duty
have children and about 10 percent of military women become pregnant each year. The ability
to defer deployment following childbirth or a formal adoption placement is a crucial necessity
for the many women within the armed forces.
H.B. 3890 allows a member of the state military forces who is a single parent of an adopted child
to defer deployment until the first anniversary of the date an adoption order is rendered and
allows a member who is the birth parent of a child less than one year old to defer deployment
until the day after the child's first birthday. The bill also states that a private employer commits
an unlawful employment practice if the employer refuses to hire a member of the state military
forces on the basis of the individual's membership in the state military forces.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
H.B. 3890 amends the Government Code to establish that a private employer commits an
unlawful employment practice for purposes of provisions relating to employment discrimination
if the employer refuses to hire a member of the state military forces on the basis of the
individual's membership in the state military forces.
H.B. 3890 authorizes a member of the state military forces called to state active duty to defer
deployment if the member is a single parent of a child whom the parent adopted less than one
year before the date of the deployment or if the member gave birth to a child who is less than one
year old on the date of deployment. The bill authorizes a member who is a single parent of an
adopted child to defer deployment until the first anniversary of the date the adoption order was
rendered. The bill authorizes a member who is the birth parent of a child less than one year old
to defer deployment until the day after the child's first birthday.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2009.