Committee hears House Bill 5-12 to require lap-shoulder belts on new school buses and district policies on use

Representative Jill Kohnauer opened the hearing on House Bill 5-12, saying the measure would require lap-shoulder belts on school buses “on or after January first of 2026” and would compel school districts to adopt enforceable, publicly available lap-shoulder belt usage policies.

Supporters from a coalition of education groups testified in favor of the bill. Doug Reisick, speaking for a coalition that included the School Administrators of Montana and the Montana Rural Education Association, said HB 5-12 “prioritizes student safety by ensuring school buses are equipped with essential safety features and that these features are used and maintained properly.” He added the bill requires districts to maintain belts and adopt policies that require passengers to buckle up.

Macaul Flynn, executive director of the Board of Public Education, said the board’s 2022 rules already require districts to adopt standards in certain circumstances and clarified that a district buying a new bus with lap-shoulder belts would be subject to the board’s standards. Kohnauer told the committee the bill incorporates the Board of Public Education standards and adds statutory language to support enforceable district policies, a modest payment-in-lieu-of-taxes incentive for districts that operate their own bus systems, and a small one-time programming appropriation in the fiscal note.

Committee members questioned cost and retrofitting feasibility. The sponsor cited an estimated cost of $7,000 to $12,000 for seat-belt installation on new buses and said some new buses can cost about $185,000. The fiscal note shown to the committee included a $2,500 one-time programming cost to implement a 10% fee reduction in the state tracking system and an ongoing estimated reduction of about $610 related to the incentive.

Kohnauer and proponents also argued the bill addresses behavior and supervision problems on buses by encouraging seat-belt use and said the presence of belts can reduce driver distractions. The sponsor noted manufacturers’ statements that new buses increasingly come equipped with belts; she told the committee she received information from a bus manufacturer that “they will not be selling any school buses from now on that do not have seatbelts in them.”

No formal committee vote was recorded during the hearing; committee members asked the sponsor for a drafting amendment and more detailed rule language before executive action.