Honorable Dan Huberty, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1577 by Lozano (Relating to assignment by the University Interscholastic League of schools to districts for purposes of competition.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Education Code relating to the criteria by which the University Interscholastic League (UIL) assigns schools to districts for the purposes of competition. Under the bill, UIL could not assign a school to a district if the school would be required to travel more than 100 miles to compete against another school in that district. UIL would only be able to assign a school to such a district if placement in a permissible district is not available and if the school declines placement in a district that would be permissible but is in a conference for schools with greater enrollment.
The bill would apply beginning with the first UIL reclassification occurring on or after the effective date of the bill. The bill would take immediate effect if it receives a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature. Otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2017.
According to the Texas Education Agency and the University of Texas System, duties and responsibilities associated with the bill could be absorbed within existing resources.
Local Government Impact
To the extent the bills leads to more compact UIL districts, some school districts could see reduced expenses associated with competition-related travel. However, according to the University of Texas System, the bill could increase costs for some local school districts, particularly rural school districts. In some cases, UIL may be required to decrease the number of schools in a UIL district in order to comply with the bill. If a school has fewer schools in its UIL district, the school may be required to schedule more out-of-district games. Out-of-district games tend to have higher costs, due to increased travel costs.
UIL is part of the University of Texas at Austin.
Source Agencies:
701 Texas Education Agency, 720 The University of Texas System Administration