BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 453 By: Schofield Elections Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, certain public buildings, including public schools, are required to be made available for use as a polling place in an election. Despite the law, some school districts have threatened to withhold permission to use their schools as polling places on the grounds that doing so poses a safety concern for students. H.B. 453 seeks to establish a disincentive for a school district that declines to make its building available as a polling location. 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 H.B. 453 amends the Election Code to prohibit a public school district that owns or controls a building selected for a polling place and fails to make the building available for use as such in any election that covers territory in which the building is located from designating that building as a polling place for an election for the district's board of trustees or for a district bond election until after the fifth anniversary of the date of the election in which the district failed to make the building available. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2023.
BILL ANALYSIS
# BILL ANALYSIS
H.B. 453
By: Schofield
Elections
Committee Report (Unamended)
H.B. 453
By: Schofield
Elections
Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, certain public buildings, including public schools, are required to be made available for use as a polling place in an election. Despite the law, some school districts have threatened to withhold permission to use their schools as polling places on the grounds that doing so poses a safety concern for students. H.B. 453 seeks to establish a disincentive for a school district that declines to make its building available as a polling location.
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 H.B. 453 amends the Election Code to prohibit a public school district that owns or controls a building selected for a polling place and fails to make the building available for use as such in any election that covers territory in which the building is located from designating that building as a polling place for an election for the district's board of trustees or for a district bond election until after the fifth anniversary of the date of the election in which the district failed to make the building available.
EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2023.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under current law, certain public buildings, including public schools, are required to be made available for use as a polling place in an election. Despite the law, some school districts have threatened to withhold permission to use their schools as polling places on the grounds that doing so poses a safety concern for students. H.B. 453 seeks to establish a disincentive for a school district that declines to make its building available as a polling location.
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
H.B. 453 amends the Election Code to prohibit a public school district that owns or controls a building selected for a polling place and fails to make the building available for use as such in any election that covers territory in which the building is located from designating that building as a polling place for an election for the district's board of trustees or for a district bond election until after the fifth anniversary of the date of the election in which the district failed to make the building available.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2023.