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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Swisstack

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/15/2007

HB 1076

SHORT TITLE School Bus Driver Minimum Salaries

SB

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$9.4

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1076 appropriates $9,443,000 from the general fund to the Public Education

Department for the purpose of providing a minimum salary for school bus drivers.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $9,443,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert

to the general fund.

This appropriation would increase the transportations appropriation under categorical public

school support on an annual basis.

This bill appears to affect all drivers whether they are on call or not. If this the case, this bill

could provide a salary of $20.00 per hour if they drive two hours in the morning and two hours in

the afternoon. For those drivers on call for an eight hour day, the minimum salary would be

$10.00 per hour including the time they are not driving.

House Bill 1076 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

PED notes that the current average daily driver salary is $57.00. If enacted, this bill would

increase that by an average of $23.00 per day for those drivers who are on call during the school

day. The PED would have to determine the actual daily salary for each school bus route and be

provided with documentation, including on-call status, prior to releasing necessary funds for the

proposed minimum daily salary.

The $80 per day minimum salary would provide school bus drivers with a weekly minimum

salary of $400 before employee deductions for taxes and benefits.

PED reports that school bus driver shortages have impacted operations in many school districts

across the state. This initiative may have a positive impact on recruitment and retention.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Language contained in the bill in Section 1 provides that “The minimum salary for school bus

drivers, including drivers who are on call …" While the PED analysis narrative notes an

increase only for bus drivers on call, this language appears to apply the minimum salaries to all

bus drivers regardless of whether they are on-call or not.

This could have constitutional questions regarding anti donation as some drivers would be paid

for time they are not working.

PA/mt