Bill Text: TX SCR3 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Urging Congress to pass legislation that would grant licensing authority for public school bus drivers to the states.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 13-5)
Status: (Passed) 2021-10-25 - Signed by the Governor [SCR3 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SCR3-Enrolled.html
| S.C.R. No. 3 | ||
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| 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 Federal Motor Carrier Safety | ||
| 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. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 3 was adopted by the Senate | ||
| on October 5, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 3 was adopted by the House | ||
| on October 17, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 128, Nays 2, | ||
| two present not voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| Approved: | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
