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Transportation subcommittee advances bill to lower minimum school-bus driver age to 21 after heated debate
Summary
The Tennessee House Transportation Subcommittee voted 6-3 to send House Bill 84 to the full Transportation Committee. The bill would reduce the minimum age for school-bus drivers from 25 to 21; supporters said it would help ease a driver shortage, while opponents and safety officials warned experience and training matter.
House Bill 84, which would lower the minimum age to drive a school bus in Tennessee from 25 to 21, moved out of the Transportation Subcommittee on a 6-3 vote after more than an hour of debate and public testimony.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Sparks, said the state faces a shortage of school-bus drivers that harms student transportation. “We have a crisis. We’ve got kids waiting at bus stops not being picked up,” Sparks said, listing other countries’ age thresholds to argue Tennessee is unusually restrictive. Sparks asked the committee to send the bill to full committee for more consideration and possible amendments.
The proposal drew both supportive testimony from potential drivers and current drivers and opposition from safety officials.…
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