Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
House advances bill requiring lap‑shoulder belts on school buses; districts must adopt usage policies
Summary
House Bill 512 passed second reading after debate on safety, behavior and costs; sponsors say lap‑shoulder belts reduce injuries in rollovers and side‑impact crashes and ask the Board of Public Education to set standards.
The Montana House of Representatives voted to advance House Bill 512, which requires new school buses to comply with lap‑shoulder belt standards established by the Board of Public Education and requires school districts that use belted buses to adopt enforceable, publicly available usage policies.
Sponsor Representative Sam Kohlenhauer told the chamber the measure does not force districts to immediately buy new buses, but it ties standards for new buses and creates incentives and policy requirements for districts that operate belted buses. “The 1 fatality we've had in the state of Montana on a school bus did…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
