Public high schools, required to designate time and space for military recruiters to administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to students on campus on a voluntary basis

Education

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Simpson
Last action: 2026-01-13
Official status: Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

HB196: Military Testing Days in Public High Schools

This bill requires public high schools to set aside one school day each fall for military recruiters to give a voluntary test called the ASVAB on campus.

What This Bill Does

Requires all city and county public high schools to pick one school day in the fall semester for testing.
Allows military recruiters from the U.S. Armed Forces or Department of Homeland Security to come onto campus that day.
Mandates that schools provide space, time, and appropriate accommodations for these recruiters to give the ASVAB test to students.
States that taking the ASVAB is voluntary, meaning no student has to take it.

Who It Names or Affects

City and county public high school systems
Military recruiters from the U.S. Armed Forces or Department of Homeland Security
High school students who may choose to take the test

Terms To Know

ASVAB: The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a test administered by military recruiters.
Testing accommodations: Appropriate adjustments provided to students during the testing process as required by this bill.

Limits and Unknowns

The text does not explain who pays for the cost of running this testing event.
It is unclear how schools will decide which specific fall date to use each year beyond designating one day in that semester.

Bill History

2026-01-13 House
Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
2026-01-13 House
Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Education Policy

Official Summary Text

Public high schools, required to designate time and space for military recruiters to administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to students on campus on a voluntary basis

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB196 INTRODUCED
Page 0
HB196
9J21CPM-1
By Representative Simpson
RFD: Education Policy
First Read: 13-Jan-26
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9J21CPM-1 10/15/2025 KMS (L)ma 2025-3056
Page 1
First Read: 13-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, public schools are required
to grant access to military recruiters in the same
manner as provided to prospective employers.
This bill would require public high schools to
designate a school day for military recruiters to
administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude
Battery (ASVAB), on a voluntary basis, on campus to
students.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to public high schools; to amend Section
16-1-25, Code of Alabama 1975, to require public high schools
to designate a day for military recruiters to administer the
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), on a
voluntary basis, to students on campus.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 16-1-25 of the Code of Alabama 1975,
is amended to read as follows:
"§16-1-25
(a) All city and county public school systems and all
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HB196 INTRODUCED
Page 2
(a) All city and county public school systems and all
public institutions of higher education as defined by Section
16-5-1 and all divisions of public institutions of higher
education shall grant military recruiters of the United States
Armed Forces and United States Department of Homeland Security
the same information and access to students and campus
facilities as the institution grants to prospective employers
of students or to postsecondary institutions.
(b) In addition to the access provided in subsection
(a), all city and county public high schools shall annually
designate one school day during the fall semester for military
recruiters to administer the Armed Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to students on campus. The high
school shall provide appropriate testing accommodations and
the ASVAB shall be voluntary for students. "
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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