South Carolina Assembly Overrides Veto of School Bus Replacement Bill

COLUMBIA, S.C. (updated June 15, 2007) — With a new law in the books that sets a 15-year age limit on each state-owned school bus, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford set up a $60 million safety net to fund new purchases and increased fuel costs in case the General Assembly failed to pass a new state budget.

The bus replacement portion of the recently passed school bus omnibus legislation HB 3161 requires funds be appropriated by the state General Assembly before the State Department of Education could implement the "one-fifteenth" rule, that being the turnover of one-fifteenth of the state's 5,700 fleet each year. But as legislators were still debating an overall state budget package as recess drew near, Sanford took matters into his own hands by signing a bill that makes available $60 million for the state to purchase new buses and address concerns over diesel fuel prices.

"It's basically a continuing resolution so that if they get past June 30 without a budget, people can still spend based on last year's budget," said Donald Tudor, the state's director of school transportation.

But it was unlikely the $60 million will be necessary, as Tudor said the General Assembly was expected to pass the state budget, and the funds necessary to implement HB 3161, by June 22.

Any eventual appropriated funds for HB 3161would be earmarked specifically for new bus purchases and could not be used to alleve fuel or maintenance costs.

The ongoing saga centering on updating the aging state school bus fleet took an interesting turn when the state House of Representatives and Senate both overrode a governor veto of a funding bill on June 6.

The South Carolina Legislature originally took the step toward infusing more youth into the state-owned fleet by passing the school transportation omnibus bill requiring vehicles be replaced on a 15-year cycle and would mandate the state purchase approximately 375 new buses each year at a cost of nearly $30 million. But Sanford quelled those hopes with his veto, adding that the state should instead decentralize school transportation operations utilizing private contractors and investigate more cost-effective leasing option.

South Carolina is the only state in the nation that owns and maintains its own fleet. The governor recommended that practice soon come to an end, according to his veto message to House Speaker Bobby Harrel, as the bill "reaffirms and furthers the state's unusual control of our public school transportation system."

Namely, Sanford said the private sector could more effectively manage and maintain the state fleet. Additionally, more new buses could be introduced into the fleet through leasing, as found last year in an evaluation of the state's pupil transportation system by The TransPar Group.

But the House and Senate override of the veto served as a message that the state fleet of 5,700 school buses has reached a critical point in terms of age. T he state currently replaces buses when it has the money, which happens infrequently. The average bus is 14 years old.