Heath: Week Three Legislative Update
Week three began with committee meetings adopting rules and hearing new legislation. Although the week started off slightly slow due to the inclement weather, I was able to present Senate Bill 25 to the Senate Public Safety Committee.
I am proud to say the legislation passed through the committee with bi-partisan, unanimous support.
I commend Sen. John Albers for starting the Senate Public Safety Committee’s work this session with such productivity.
Not only did the committee adopt rules for the session, as some of the other committees did this week, but it was the only committee this week to hear and pass legislation. I want to thank the chairman and members for supporting this legislation that is extremely important to the safety of our schoolchildren.
The goal of Senate Bill 25 is to address language confusion and most importantly the creation of unsafe conditions in our existing law from last session’s House Bill 978.
While HB 978 may have been drafted with the intent for bus drivers to safely load and unload schoolchildren at bus stops, it has language that allows for approaching cars to pass a stopped school bus on a road or highway divided only by a turn lane. This has created a lot of confusion for law enforcement, our schools, bus drivers and parents that puts our children at risk.
At the request of a transportation director for one of my school systems, I sponsored SB 25 to reverse some of the language in HB 978 that will help mitigate the bill’s unintended, unsafe and negative consequences.
SB 25 will address a major problem with HB 978 which does not clearly define when passing a school bus by a driver on a separate roadway is permissible. This legislation clarifies that instead of a turn lane divide allowing for the passing of a stopped school bus by those traveling in the opposite direction, it is only the presence of a grass median, unpaved area or physical barrier that will allow for this passing.
The proposed language in SB 25 would not only reverse the language in HB 978 but would mirror what the law was before it went into effect and caused a safety problem. If signed into law, the uncertainty and danger to the safety of our children would be eliminated since it would be clear that only a turn lane does not permit passing a school bus.
It will be clear that the presence of a barrier a car cannot travel across – a grass median, unpaved area or physical barrier – is the only lawful condition when a vehicle can pass a stopped school bus on the other side of the road.
This alleviates many of the present safety concerns that the Department of Education, Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police and various other local education and public safety organizations voiced during the committee hearing.
Because of the current safety concerns due to HB 978, I have also been asked by a judge in the Atlanta area who handles hundreds of these violations to make sure SB 25 goes into effect as soon as possible. This request is addressed in section 3 of the bill, where I added language that SB 25 will be effective upon the signature of the governor. This enables the governor to take action as soon as possible to ensure the safety of our school children.
We have already lost children in Georgia at school bus stops and I intend to do everything I can to stop this from happening again. The lives of our children are incredibly important to me, my fellow legislators and my constituents.
Along with increasing our children’s safety, SB 25 becoming law would clarify the rules for our citizens so they do not unintentionally break the law. I will continue to champion this bill, next in the Rules Committee, where hopefully it will be placed on the Senate Rules Calendar this coming week for a vote by the entire chamber.
If you have any questions about SB 25, how it could affect your children, or any future legislation please let me know by contacting my office. It is always good to hear your questions, comments or concerns as I work to best represent the 31st District.