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Committee adds panic-button, push-to-talk options and reduces lottery funding to $10M per year for school bus safety bill
Summary
The Ohio House Transportation Committee amended House Bill 3 to add silent panic alerts and broadband push-to-talk to the list of eligible school bus safety features and reduced the bill's lottery-based appropriation to $10 million per fiscal year; the measure was reported out of committee 12-0.
The Ohio House Transportation Committee on Oct. 12 considered amendments to House Bill 3, adopting changes that add silent panic-alert technology and broadband push-to-talk capabilities to a list of eligible school bus safety features and reduce the bill's proposed lottery-fund appropriation to $10 million in each fiscal year.
The changes were offered during the committee's consideration of HB 3 and were adopted without recorded objection. "This amendment ... has all of the potential safety features that school districts could want," the committee chair said when explaining the first amendment, adding that the new items mirror panic-alert systems used inside schools and give bus drivers an immediate way to summon first responders. "This would give the ability, like we have inside our schools, where teachers, administrators have those panic buttons either on them or at their desks and have immediate access to have first response coming to them," the chair said.
Supporters said the additions are optional features that school districts could choose to adopt and would be eligible for grants under a school-bus-safety grant program established by the bill. The committee also adopted an amendment that reduced the bill's planned appropriation from earlier, larger figures to $10 million per fiscal year from the lottery profit (student support) fund. Committee members said the change reflects current projections of lottery revenue and aligns the bill with the operating budget's appropriation profile; Representative Troy questioned the cut and asked where additional funding would come from if districts needed more money.
Representative Troy: "I'm a little confused. I mean, somebody at some point thought that $25,000,000 was and we're gonna cut that by 60%." The committee's sponsor responses said the $10 million figure tracks lottery commission projections and that additional funding could be added later if more revenue is available.
Both amendments were moved by Vice Chair Daniels. After discussion the panel voted to advance the measure. The clerk called the roll for final committee action on the amended bill; the transcript records 12 yes votes, 0 no votes. With a 12-0 vote, the committee reported HB 3 out and recommended it back to rules. The chair granted the Legislative Service Commission authority to harmonize the bill as passed by the committee and left the roll open until 5 p.m.
Because the amendment reducing the appropriation alters the bill's funding profile, committee members noted it will be re-referred to the Finance Committee for review of appropriations. Several members also emphasized that the grant program and any appropriation are subject to the state's budget process and to the lottery commission's revenue projections.
Ending: The committee advanced the amended HB 3 to the rules committee and authorized LSC to harmonize the text. The bill will be referred to Finance for its appropriations review and remains subject to the state budget process and lottery revenue availability.
