New York Senate Bill S03071 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3071 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 23, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a task force on safety in school transportation; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3639 2 to read as follows: 3 § 3639. Task force on safety in school transportation. 1. There is 4 hereby created a task force on safety in school transportation with the 5 purpose of reviewing and promoting safety in school transportation. 6 2. The task force shall consist of eighteen members appointed as 7 follows: five members appointed by the governor, five members appointed 8 by the temporary president of the senate, and five members appointed by 9 the speaker of the assembly. The task force shall also include the 10 commissioner or the commissioner's designee; the commissioner of trans- 11 portation or such commissioner's designee; and the commissioner of the 12 department of motor vehicles or such commissioner's designee. The 13 members appointed to the task force shall include, but not be limited 14 to: education and community stakeholders; parents; teachers; adminis- 15 trators; and school bus drivers and other school bus personnel who are 16 members of a labor union. 17 3. It shall be the duty of the task force to study and issue recommen- 18 dations related to student safety in school transportation. The task 19 force shall review and make recommendations on: 20 a. existing state laws, regulations, and programs that address school 21 bus safety, and make recommendations for their improvement, including 22 any recommendations necessary to ensure pedestrian safety and the safety 23 of students; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01409-02-5 
 S. 3071 2 1 b. examining the possibility of requiring a state department or office 2 to conduct a biannual review of all aspects of school bus safety and to 3 issue recommendations for additional action or oversight, as appropri- 4 ate; 5 c. developing a plan to phase in any school bus safety measures recom- 6 mended by the task force through retrofitting and prospective vehicle 7 purchases, and identify the potential application of vehicle sensor 8 technology to improve school bus safety; 9 d. identifying best practices for the designation of school bus stops; 10 e. the current safety status of students who walk to and from school 11 and identify strategies that support safe pedestrian behavior by 12 students between their homes and schools, including as they walk to and 13 from bus stops and board and exit buses; 14 f. identifying safety protocols to be followed by school bus drivers 15 and school bus aides, including safeguards to ensure that protocols are 16 followed when a substitute driver or school bus aide is assigned to a 17 school bus; 18 g. developing recommendations to curb illegal passing of school buses; 19 and 20 h. determining if there is a need for additional public education 21 programs that promote school bus safety. 22 4. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in 23 the same manner as the original appointments were made. The members of 24 the task force shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed 25 for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. 26 5. The task force shall organize as soon as is practical upon the 27 appointment of a majority of its members. The chair of the task force 28 shall be designated by a simple majority vote of all members of the task 29 force. 30 6. The department shall provide staff and related support services to 31 the task force. The task force shall also be entitled to call upon the 32 services of any state, county, or municipal department, board, commis- 33 sion or agency, as may be available to it for these purposes, and to 34 incur such traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem 35 necessary for the proper execution of its duties and as may be within 36 the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for 37 these purposes. The task force may meet and hold hearings at such places 38 as it shall designate. 39 7. The task force shall create a final report regarding all findings 40 and recommendations to be delivered no later than eighteen months after 41 the effective date of this section, to the governor, the temporary pres- 42 ident of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chair of the 43 senate education committee, the chair of the assembly education commit- 44 tee, the chair of the senate transportation committee and the chair of 45 the assembly transportation committee. 46 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 47 deemed repealed twenty-four months after it shall have become a law.