HB 2078 - This act prohibits the Department of Revenue from issuing a driver's license or a temporary instruction permit to any person 15 to 18 years of age if a public school district submits information to the department that the student is not in compliance with the eligibility standards. Every public school district shall provide the department with a list of the studentswho are not in compliance at least once a semester. Under the act, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's standards shall ensure that a student continues to make educational progress. If an applicant does not achieve the department's standards, the person's driver's license test will be postponed until he or she demonstrates that the standards have been achieved.
Under the terms of the act, any person who is emancipated and does not meet the qualifications may request his or her district's school board to grant a waiver from the requirements. A school board will grant a waiver if it determines that having a license to operate a motor vehicle is in the best interest of the individual. Any person who drops out of school and earns a general educational development (GED) diploma will be granted, upon request, a waiver from the act's requirements.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in cooperation with the Department of Revenue, must establish a model or models for compliance. Any person who knowingly submits false information to the Department of Revenue regarding these provisions will be guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
The act has an effective date of January 1, 2011.
STEPHEN WITTE