On Thursday, Sept. 12, Gov. Phil Murphy acted on A-2180/S-3000, legislation intended to ease the school bus driver shortage in New Jersey.
The bill would have created a new “Type S School Bus Certificate” to be issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. The certificate would have authorized a person to operate a Type S school bus to transport children to and from school without obtaining a commercial driver’s license, passenger endorsement, or school bus endorsement. Type S buses are smaller vehicles that can transport up to nine passengers, excluding the driver. The New Jersey School Boards Association, along with several other education groups, strongly supported the bill.
In his veto statement, the governor applauded the bill’s sponsors for “exploring ways to ensure school districts meet their transportation needs.” He added, however, his concern that “the manner in which the bill proposes to increase the pool of drivers has the potential to compromise the safety of our students in support of that goal.” He cited several concerns in his explanation for not signing the bill. In summary, the governor stated the bill proposes to “allow students to be transported in a vehicle that would not be subject to any specific safety and inspection requirements, fail to ensure proper oversight of the driving privileges of a Type S certificate holder, and pivotally, fail to ensure that these drivers are properly trained, qualified and eligible to transport our most vulnerable passengers – school children.”
While vetoing the bill as passed by the Legislature, the governor acknowledged school districts’ problems finding enough qualified bus drivers. He recommended changes that would “expand an existing law to allow school districts to increase their pool of drivers in a tailored way to reduce the potential impacts to student safety.” Under current state law, districts may authorize qualified school personnel to transport students to school-related activities in private vehicles. His conditional veto proposes broadening that law so that districts could authorize school personnel to transport students to and from school as well. The vehicles used to transport students must have a capacity of eight passengers or less, excluding the driver. The drivers would have to meet various age, driving, physical, training and background check requirements.
The governor’s statement, along with his suggested revisions, can be found here. NJSBA is currently reviewing the veto statement and will continue to advocate for relief from the persistent school bus driver shortage.
To view the full text of any of the bill summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.