Bill Text: TX HCR12 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced

Texas House Concurrent Resolution 12 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Urging Congress to pass legislation that would grant licensing authority for public school bus drivers to the states.

Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 4-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-10-04 - Referred to Public Education [HCR12 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HCR12-Introduced.html



	By: Canales	H.C.R. No. 12



	HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, Each day, more than 26 million students rely on
	school buses for safe transportation, and many school districts
	have experienced difficulty in keeping up with this demand due to
	federal licensing requirements that have exacerbated the shortage
	of school bus drivers; and
	WHEREAS, Part 383 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires
	school bus drivers to obtain a Commercial Driver's License, but the
	application process has included unnecessary obstacles to meeting
	this obligation; for example, the testing and training portions of
	the CDL application were previously handled by different
	third-party skills examiners, which limited applicants' ability to
	complete the exams if they did not have access to both a tester and a
	trainer; a recent change to this rule helps states streamline the
	process of obtaining a CDL by allowing the same examiner to both
	test and train an applicant, revealing that with less federal
	interference, states can license school bus drivers more
	efficiently; and
	WHEREAS, According to a survey conducted by School Bus Fleet
	Magazine, most school districts have endured some degree of bus
	driver shortage, and data from the National Association for Pupil
	Transportation reveals that many school districts consider CDL
	requirements to be a major factor in their ability to recruit and
	retain bus drivers; one Texas school district has successfully
	overcome its shortage, but only through costly training programs
	that compensate new drivers as they complete the CDL application;
	and
	WHEREAS, School districts that provide valuable
	transportation services are burdened by a flawed federal system
	with inefficient licensing requirements, and Congress should solve
	this problem by allowing states to establish regulations according
	to their own needs; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas,
	3rd Called Session, hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the
	United States to pass legislation that would grant licensing
	authority for public school bus drivers to the states; and, be it
	further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.