Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam C. Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor
Division of the Budget
February 3, 2025
The Honorable Susan Estes, Chairperson
House Committee on Education
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 218-N
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Estes:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2137 by House Committee on Education
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2137 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2137 would require the Department of Education to create policies and procedures to
contract with a private vendor for the installation, operation, and maintenance of stop signal arm
video recording devices on school buses. The bill would allow the Department to assess a civil
penalty of $250 for associated violations of stop signal arms on school buses by motor vehicle
operators.
All civil penalties resulting from associated school bus stop sign arm violations from a
video recording would be remitted by the Department of Education to the State Treasurer and
credited to the newly created School Bus Safety and Education Fund. Expenditures from this fund
would be used for the installation, operation and maintenance of the video recording devices, the
verification of violations captured by the video recording devices, educating the public on the
dangers of the associated violations, and to alert the public of the consequences for the violations.
The bill would outline the procedures for issuing a notice of violation.
If a violation is detected by the private vendor from recorded images, the alleged violation
would be forwarded to the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) and reviewed and verified by a
designated official working under the supervision of the agency. Any recorded images showing a
vehicle operating in violation of the law would be considered prima facie evidence that a violation
occurred. The bill would outline procedures for notifying the registered owner of the vehicle that
a violation occurred, as well as an appeal procedure to contest the violation. Any images would The Honorable Susan Estes, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2137
not be subject to the Kansas Open Records Act; however, this provision would expire on July 1,
2028, unless the Legislature would extend or eliminate this sunset date.
If a registered owner of a vehicle fails to pay the civil penalty, the Department of Education
would inform the Division of Vehicles of the Department of Revenue and require the Division of
Vehicles to require the payment of any civil penalties owed to the Department of Education at the
time of vehicle registration or renewal; otherwise, the Division would be required to refuse to
register or renew the vehicle registration until the civil penalties are paid to the satisfaction of the
Department of Education. The bill would outline procedures for a violator to contest the civil
violation in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act. The bill
would outline the retention time for the recorded images.
The Department of Education would be required to make an annual report to the
Legislature detailing the number of violations captured, the total number of notices issued, and the
total number of civil penalties collected. The agency would be required to publish the report on
its website.
The Department of Education states that the enactment of HB 2137 would increase
revenues from civil penalties assessed and would increase expenditures associated with the vendor
contracting to administer the program. The number of school districts that would adopt a
resolution to participate in this program is unknown. Over time, revenues from civil penalties
would likely cover the contract costs to administer the program. The Department of Education
indicates that additional administrative time to coordinate the program with the KHP may be
needed, depending on the number of school districts and buses that would participate. Any
additional expenditures would be funded from the new School Bus Safety and Education Fund
once revenues are collected for the new fund.
The KHP reports that the agency does not have sufficient staffing for the administrative
requirements of the bill. The agency estimates the bill would require additional annual
expenditures totaling $206,441 and 2.25 FTE positions to review recorded images and report its
findings to the Department of Education. This estimate would include 2.00 Program Consultant
II FTE positions at a cost of $85,641 for each position, and 0.25 Attorney FTE position at a cost
of $35,159. These expenditures would require an additional appropriation from the State Highway
Fund or from another funding source.
The Department of Revenue indicates the enactment of the bill would have no fiscal effect
outside of its normal operations.
The Division of the Budget notes that in order to begin the program, an initial funding
mechanism would be needed, either through an appropriation from the State General Fund or
through the vendor contract with the Department of Education for retroactive vendor payments
from the eventual civil penalty revenue. However, the bill does not specify how these initial costs
would be covered. In addition, the Division believes that an interagency agreement could
reimburse administrative expenses to the KHP, depending on the amount of revenues received
from civil fines to the Department of Education in excess of costs for the Department to administer The Honorable Susan Estes, Chairperson
Page 3—HB 2137
its responsibilities. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2137 is not reflected in The FY 2026
Governor’s Budget Report.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Lynn Robinson, Department of Revenue
Gabrielle Hull, Department of Education
Sherry Macke, Kansas Highway Patrol
Trisha Morrow, Judiciary