SCHOOL BUS DRIVER QUALIFICATIONS H.B. 5363 (S-4):
FLOOR SUMMARY
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House Bill 5363 (Substitute S-4 as reported)
Sponsor: Representative Gail Haines
House Committee: Transportation
Senate Committee: Education
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Pupil Transportation Act to do the following:
-- Require school bus drivers to meet the physical requirements specified in the Code of Federal Regulations, with an exception for individuals with diabetes who had been granted a waiver under the Motor Carrier Safety Act or who were employed as bus drivers on the bill's effective date, and met certain other requirements.
-- Extend the duration of a school bus driver's entry-level certificate until the completion of the next six-hour continuing education course, if the individual completed the entry-level course after June 30 of a given year.
Under 49 CFR 391.41(b)(3), a driver must have no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes requiring insulin for control. Under the bill, for a driver with diabetes to be exempt from that requirement, a physician who had seen the individual at least twice in the previous year would have to complete an information survey about the driver indicating that in the physician's professional opinion, the driver's diabetes was at least adequately controlled, and that the driver knew what to do if he or she had a hypoglycemic reaction, understood the importance of spacing meals and followed his or her meal plan, and was able to recognize signs of hypoglycemia in himself or herself.
The driver would be exempt only if the survey indicated that he or she had not had a severe hypoglycemic reaction or been admitted to a hospital, emergency department, or urgent care facility for a severe hypoglycemic reaction within the previous year, unless the reaction occurred during the initiation of therapy and the driver had learned how to manage therapy without incident.
A driver who used insulin or other hypoglycemic agents would have to complete a driver's information survey. The driver would have to remain under adequate medical supervision and supply physician's and driver's information surveys annually.
MCL 257.1851 & 257.1853 Legislative Analyst: Curtis Walker
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the State.
To the extent that school districts pay all or a share of the costs of annual physicals for bus drivers, changing the requirement for a physical to once every two years (in accordance with the Federal regulation) would reduce costs.
Date Completed: 5-24-10 Fiscal Analyst: Kathryn Summers
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. hb5363/0910