Honorable Geanie W. Morrison, Chair, House Committee on Transportation
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1188 by Phelan (Relating to three-point seat belts on buses that transport schoolchildren.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
Under existing law, a school bus or school activity bus operated or contracted for use by a school district must be equipped with a three-point seat belt for each passenger. This requirement applies to each school bus purchased on or after September 1, 2010 and each school-chartered bus contracted for use on or after September 1, 2011.
The bill would amend Transportation Code Sec. 547.701 to expand the type of vehicles to which the three-point seat belt requirement applies to include a "multifunction school activity bus" or a "school-chartered bus." Under the provisions of the bill, the three-point seat belt requirement would not apply to vehicles with a model year of 2017 or earlier. The requirement also would not apply to a vehicle with a model year of 2018 or later if a school district's board of trustees determines that the school district's finances could not support the purchase of a bus with three-point seatbelts, provided that the board votes on such a determination in a public hearing.
The bill would repeal language stating that school districts only had to comply with the three-point seat belt requirement to the extent that the Legislature appropriated money to reimburse school districts for complying with the requirement.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2017.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.