Committee approves allowing eligible bus drivers to join state group insurance pool

The Senate Education Committee approved a bill and accompanying amendment that would allow certain school bus drivers to participate in the state employee group insurance plan.

Representative Michelle Gray said districts—particularly in North Central and Northeastern Arkansas—are struggling to recruit and retain bus drivers and that restoring limited participation in the group insurance pool would help. Under the amendment, a "full-time bus driver" is defined as someone contracted to operate a school bus at least 720 hours during the school year, whose primary income in the school year comes from bus driving, or who is designated full time by the superintendent.

Chris Howlett, director of the Employee Benefits Division, gave the committee data on how many people could be affected. He said the division’s counts indicate about 3,089 individuals who are unique to the bus-driver classification and not already on the state plan; if every eligible driver entered the plan the pool would see that level of additional exposure, though participation is likely to be lower.

The bill drew general support from superintendents and the school-board association during committee discussion; Representative Gray said schools asked that the pool not be expanded beyond bus drivers this session. The committee adopted the amendment and passed the bill by voice vote.

What’s next: The measure moves forward in the legislative process; districts and the Employee Benefits Division will likely monitor enrollment and actuarial impact if the law changes.