LINCOLN, Neb. (Apr. 1, 2008) — Last week, Nebraska state Senator John Harms pulled a bill that would have required lap-shoulder belts on all new buses beginning in 2010. Sen. Harms said he was afraid he wouldn’t have time to take on debate during the seven remaining days in the legislative session.

The bill won a 33 to 4 approval in the first round, but was threatened with a late filibuster by Senator Arnie Stuthman. Sen. Stuthman argued the bill left too many questions unanswered.

"We need to get a lot more information before we make a major decision to make a mandate that we’re not able to fund," Sen. Stuthman said.

Sen. Stuthman called the bill "emotional," saying incidents like the fatal 2001 school bus crash that inspired the bill would "probably never happen again."

Sen. Harms said the chair of the education committee has assured him the bill is not unfunded. The added cost of lap-shoulder belts would be picked up by the school funding formula, he said. Sen. Harms also counted claims that data supporting seat belts was insufficient.

"I have enough data and research to counter anything anybody wants to say," Sen. Harms said.

Sen. Harms said he would reintroduced the bill in the next session.

In 2006, a similar bill introduced by Sen. Harms was stymied by liability concerns. The version introduced this year attempted to address this by explicitly stating that a district’s liability does not increase if a student is not wearing his or her seat belt or if the school is using older buses without occupant restraints.