Bill Text: IA HF136 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to passenger automobiles designed to carry ten or fewer pupils when used as school buses. (See HF 499.)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-19 - Withdrawn. H.J. 582. [HF136 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-HF136-Introduced.html
House File 136 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 136 BY BERGAN A BILL FOR An Act relating to passenger automobiles designed to carry ten 1 or fewer pupils when used as school buses. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1775YH (3) 88 ns/rh
H.F. 136 Section 1. Section 321.1, subsection 69, paragraph d, Code 1 2019, is amended to read as follows: 2 d. Designed to carry not more than nine ten persons as 3 passengers, not including the driver, either school owned 4 or privately owned, which are used to transport pupils to 5 activity events in which the pupils are participants or used 6 to transport pupils to their homes in case of illness or 7 other emergency situations. The vehicles operated under the 8 provisions of this paragraph shall be operated by employees of 9 the school district who are specifically approved by the local 10 superintendent of schools for the assignment. 11 Sec. 2. Section 321.373, subsection 3, Code 2019, is amended 12 to read as follows: 13 3. The rules prescribed for school buses shall include 14 special rules for passenger automobiles, and other vehicles 15 designed to carry eight ten or fewer pupils, when used as 16 school buses. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 CURRENT IOWA LAW. Under current law, motor vehicles 21 designed to carry not more than nine persons as passengers, 22 either school owned or privately owned, are excluded from the 23 definition of “school bus” under Code section 321.1, thereby 24 excluding such vehicles from the duties and requirements 25 relating to school buses set forth in Code chapter 321 26 (motor vehicles and law of the road). To qualify under the 27 exclusion, a vehicle must be used to transport pupils to 28 activity events in which the pupils are participants or used 29 to transport pupils to their homes in case of illness or other 30 emergency situations, and must be operated by an employee of 31 the school district who is specifically approved by the local 32 superintendent of schools for the assignment. 33 Administrative rules of the department of education regulate 34 type III vehicles used as school buses. Under 281 IAC 44.2(5), 35 -1- LSB 1775YH (3) 88 ns/rh 1/ 2
H.F. 136 type III vehicles are not regular school buses but are used 1 to transport students in a school-related context and may 2 be marked as a school bus. A type III vehicle is a van or 3 passenger car, including a minivan, sport utility vehicle, or 4 station wagon. The difference between a family automobile and 5 an equivalent type III vehicle is not the vehicle itself, but 6 rather its use, as type III vehicles are used by schools for 7 purposes of student transportation. To qualify as a type III 8 vehicle, the vehicle must carry a maximum of nine or fewer 9 people, including the driver, and weigh 10,000 pounds or less. 10 CURRENT FEDERAL LAW. School buses are subject to a variety 11 of federal motor vehicle safety standards. Under federal law, 12 a school bus is a passenger motor vehicle designed to carry a 13 driver and more than 10 passengers that is used significantly 14 to transport students to or from school or an event related to 15 school. 16 TRANSPORTATION OF 10 OR FEWER PUPILS. This bill excludes 17 from the definition of “school bus” under Code section 321.1 18 motor vehicles designed to carry not more than 10 persons as 19 passengers, not including the driver. The bill requires the 20 administrative rules to allow passenger automobiles designed to 21 carry 10 or fewer pupils to be used as school buses. 22 -2- LSB 1775YH (3) 88 ns/rh 2/ 2
feedback