This Act may be cited as the “Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission Improvement Act”.

(a) Recommendations required.—The Secretaries concerned, in consultation with States through the Defense-State Liaison Office, shall develop recommendations to improve and fully implement the Military Interstate Children’s Compact.

(b) Considerations.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretaries concerned shall—

(1) identify any barriers—

(A) to the ability of a parent of a transferring military-connected child to enroll the child, in advance, in an elementary or secondary school in the State in which the child is transferring, without requiring the parent or child to be physically present in the State; and

(B) to the ability of a transferring military-connected child who receives special education services to gain access to such services and related supports in the State to which the child transfers within the timeframes required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.);

(2) consider the feasibility and advisability of—

(A) tracking and reporting the number of families who use advanced enrollment in States that offer advanced enrollment to military-connected children;

(B) States clarifying in legislation that eligibility for advanced enrollment requires only written evidence of a permanent change of station order, and does not require a parent of a military-connected child to produce a rental agreement or mortgage statement; and

(C) the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Military Interstate Children’s Compact, developing a letter or other memorandum that military families may present to local educational agencies that outlines the protections afforded to military-connected children by the Military Interstate Children’s Compact; and

(3) identify any other actions that may be taken by the States (acting together or separately) to improve the Military Interstate Children’s Compact.

(c) Report required.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and to the States a report setting forth the recommendations developed under subsection (a).

(d) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A) the congressional defense committees;

(B) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and

(C) the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.

(2) The terms “child”, “elementary school”, “local educational agency”, “secondary school”, “parent”, and “State” have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).

(3) The terms “armed forces”, “active duty” and “congressional defense committees” have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of title 10, United States Code.

(4) The term “transferring military-connected child” means the child of a parent who—

(A) is serving on active duty in the armed forces;

(B) is changing duty locations due to a permanent change of station order; and

(C) has not yet established an ongoing physical presence in the State to which the parent is transferring.

(5) The term “Military Interstate Children’s Compact” means the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children as described in Department of Defense Instruction 1342.29, dated January 31, 2017 (or any successor to such instruction).