Health & Fitness
"School Bus" Bill Gets Committee Nod In House
The "School Bus Bill" filed the first week of this legislative session received approval by the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee on Wednesday, March 12, and is headed to the House floor for a vote, probably as early as next week.
After an extensive hearing on March 5,the Committee voted on Wednesday to send it to the House floor for a vote, approving a version amended to parallel a companion bill in the Senate. The Senate bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but no date has been set for a hearing.
The legislation was triggered by the arrest in November of a school bus monitor employed by Ocean State Transit, which contracts with the East Greenwich School District for bus transportation. Under current law, employees of contractors and vendors need only obtain a state background check, while all employees of school districts must pass both a state and national background check.
Importantly, the bus monitor in question was arrested for possessing and sharing child pornography, which the current law does not specify as "disqualifying information." The bill approved on Wednesday fixes that.
I am pleased we have been able to push this legislation this far. It has been a team effort involving myself, the Attorney General's office, Senator Hodgson and the GOP Minority Office staff at the state house. There is some distance yet to go before this becomes law, but we are on the fast track now. Stay tuned
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