BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center

C.S.S.B. 1576

83R21922 KSD-D

By: Zaffirini

 

Health & Human Services

 

4/17/2013

 

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

People with disabilities face significant barriers regarding access to information on the college campus, especially due to the increasingly virtual nature of information.  This proposed legislation requires a study to identify these barriers and possible solutions, and to aid in determining future possibilities for more specific disability legislation.

 

The study will be conducted at postsecondary institutions and state agencies that receive state or federal funds and it will seek to determine how accessible information and resources, whether printed or electronic, are for people with disabilities.  This will include, but will not be limited to, information and resources provided by student organizations, learning and content management software at postsecondary institutions, and the material provided by state agencies.  A comprehensive and statewide survey of the challenges students with disabilities face in the postsecondary education system has not yet been completed.  The results of the study completed by the proposed legislation could serve as a basis for future legislation that will seek to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities in higher education. 

 

C.S.S.B. 1576 amends current law relating to a study and report of issues affecting persons with disabilities at state agencies and postsecondary educational institutions.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 115, Human Resources Code, by adding Section 115.0095, as follows:

 

Sec. 115.0095.  STUDY REGARDING ACCESSIBILITY OF STATE AGENCY AND HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES AND INFORMATION.  (a) Defines "postsecondary educational institution" in this section.

 

(b) Requires the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities (committee), in collaboration with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Department of Information Resources, to conduct a study to identify difficulties persons with disabilities are encountering at state agencies and postsecondary educational institutions that receive state or federal funds.

 

(c) Requires that the study include an evaluation of the accessibility of resources and information, whether printed or electronic, including:

 

(1) materials provided by a state agency or  postsecondary educational institution; and

 

(2) with regard to a postsecondary educational institution, learning and content management software used by the institution and information and resources provided by student organizations of the institution.

 

(d) Requires the committee to include the results of the study and any recommendations for legislative or administrative action in the report submitted to the governor and the legislature under Section 115.009(3) (relating to requiring the committee, before the end of each even-numbered year, to submit to the governor and to the legislature a report that includes certain information) before December 31, 2014.

 

(e) Provides that this section expires September 1, 2015.

 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2013.