BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1297

By: Dutton

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Mandated vision screenings place significant burdens on schools, including special training, data collection and entry, and communication to parents, all of which require considerable resources. With advancements in technology, it is now possible to perform quick and accurate vision screenings for students, helping to ensure that students receive treatment and support to improve their vision, and ultimately, their learning experience. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus have recognized the importance of regular vision screenings in schools and have issued guidelines for new technologies, such as computerized visual screening and electronic eye charts.

Benefits to such technologies include detecting vision problems in a noninvasive manner, providing more accurate and comprehensive results, and saving time and resources for schools. These technologies empower school staff and volunteers to meaningfully engage with students, resulting in better screening data in less time. For these reasons, C.S.H.B. 1297 seeks to provide for an individual who attends a public or private school to be screened using an electronic eye chart as a substitute for a printed eye chart to assess visual acuity.

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 rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission in SECTION 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1297 amends the Health and Safety Code to require rules developed by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission relating to screening for special senses and communication disorders to allow an individual who attends a public or private school to be screened using an electronic eye chart as a substitute for a printed eye chart to assess visual acuity. The bill defines an "electronic eye chart" as any computerized or other electronic system, device, or method of displaying on an electronic screen medically accepted and properly sized optotypes, which may be letters, numbers, or symbols, a health care practitioner or other person uses to assess an individual's visual acuity. The term does not include an automated computer program that assesses an individual's visual acuity through the individual's interaction with the program by playing a game. The bill requires the executive commissioner to adopt the rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1297 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Both the substitute and the introduced define "electronic eye chart" but the substitute, and not the introduced, specifies that the term does not include an automated computer program that assesses an individual's visual acuity through the individual's interaction with the program by playing a game.