BILL ANALYSIS
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Senate Research Center |
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AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Currently, the City of San Antonio has a procedure in place requiring that a fire recruit's entire eligibility for entrance into the fire academy be based on one high stakes test. This process is vulnerable to overlooking candidates who might possess desirable qualities for the fire academy, but have no ability to stand out amidst the empirical data.
H.B. 1488 allows the City of San Antonio to use additional testing mechanisms, including personality-based examinations, integrity-based examinations, and structured oral interviews to be weighted alongside a written test in order to create a more complete profile for each candidate seeking to enter the profession of firefighting.
H.B. 1488 amends current law relating to examinations for hiring in certain municipal fire departments.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 143.025, Local Government Code, by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (l), as follows:
(b) Authorizes an eligibility list for a beginning position in the fire or police department to be created only as a result of a competitive examination held in the presence of each applicant for the position, except as provided by Subsections (d) (relating to authorizing examinations for beginning positions in the fire department to be held at different locations under certain conditions), (e) (relating to requiring that an examination for beginning positions in the police department be held at one or more locations in the municipality in which the police department is located and authorizing that the examination be held at additional locations outside the municipality), and (l). Makes a nonsubstantive change.
(l) Authorizes an examination for a beginning position in the fire department, in a municipality with a population of more than 1.3 million and less than 2 million, to include testing instruments to be used in addition to the written examination in the establishment of the initial eligibility list.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2011.