BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3612

By: Davis, Yvonne

Higher Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that public institutions of higher education may be inadequately prepared to assist students with autism spectrum disorder through appropriate interventions and supports.  C.S.H.B. 3612 seeks to address this issue by requiring the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to conduct a study to determine best practices for assisting such students.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

C.S.H.B. 3612 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to conduct a study to determine best practices for assisting students with autism spectrum disorder who are enrolled at public institutions of higher education and sets out the required contents of the study. The bill requires the coordinating board, in conducting the study, to collaborate with public school districts that offer specialized programs for students with autism spectrum disorder to determine how those programs could be replicated at or extended to postsecondary institutions. The bill requires the coordinating board, not later than December 1, 2021, to submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the commissioner of education a written report that includes the study's findings and any recommendations for legislative or other action. The bill's provisions expire January 1, 2022.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3612 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute does not include identification and tracking of the attendance rates of students with autism spectrum disorder who are enrolled at public institutions of higher education in the required contents of the study.

The substitute changes the deadline by which the coordinating board must submit the written report from December 1, 2020, to December 1, 2021. The substitute changes the date on which the bill's provisions expire from September 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022.