LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 26, 2001 TO: Honorable Clyde Alexander, Chair, House Committee on Transportation FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2688 by Salinas (Relating to school bus passenger safety.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The effect of the bill is to require that all school buses used to transport public school students on or after September 1, 2001, have a passenger safety message/inscription permanently placed/affixed in a readily noticeable/conspicuous location on the back of the vehicle. These statutory requirements, found respectively in Section 545.2535 and 545.066, Transportation Code, and Section 547.607 and 547.701, specify additional equipment requirements for school buses (i.e., fire extinguisher, convex cross-over mirrors, and loading/unloading signal lamps). The Texas Education Agency reports that about 33,000 school buses were in use by the various school districts in the state for the 1999-2000 school year, with about 2,600 new and used buses being purchased annually. At an estimated expense of $200 per bus, the initial cost estimate to affected school districts would be approximately $6.6 million, with an additional cost of about $2.6 million over the next 5 years. Source Agencies: 405 Texas Department of Public Safety, 701 Texas Education Agency LBB Staff: JK, JO, PF, RN