1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education finance; defining a locally 
  1.3             controlled process for establishing hazardous traffic 
  1.4             condition pupil transportation zones; authorizing a 
  1.5             levy for certain hazardous pupil transportation 
  1.6             services; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 
  1.7             123B.88, by adding a subdivision; 123B.92, by adding a 
  1.8             subdivision. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 123B.88, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 3a.  [PUPIL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY COMMITTEE.] (a) A 
  1.13  school board may establish a pupil transportation safety 
  1.14  committee.  The chair of the pupil transportation safety 
  1.15  committee is the district's school transportation safety 
  1.16  director.  The school board shall appoint the other members of 
  1.17  the pupil transportation safety committee.  Membership may 
  1.18  include parents, school bus drivers, representatives of school 
  1.19  bus companies, local law enforcement officials, other school 
  1.20  district staff, and representatives from other units of local 
  1.21  government. 
  1.22     (b) The duties of the pupil transportation safety committee 
  1.23  include:  (1) reviewing and recommending changes to the 
  1.24  district's pupil transportation safety policy required under 
  1.25  subdivision 1; and (2) developing a comprehensive plan for the 
  1.26  safe transportation of students who face hazardous 
  1.27  transportation conditions.  The comprehensive hazardous 
  2.1   transportation plan shall consider safety factors including the 
  2.2   types of roads that students must cross, the speed of traffic on 
  2.3   those roads, the age of the students, and any other factors as 
  2.4   determined by the committee. 
  2.5      (c) The pupil transportation safety committee must hold at 
  2.6   least one public meeting before adopting its comprehensive plan 
  2.7   for transporting students who face hazardous transportation 
  2.8   conditions. 
  2.9      (d) Any recommended changes to the district's pupil 
  2.10  transportation safety policy and the comprehensive plan for 
  2.11  hazardous transportation must be submitted to the school board. 
  2.12     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  2.13  following final enactment. 
  2.14     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 123B.92, is 
  2.15  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.16     Subd. 11.  [HAZARDOUS TRANSPORTATION LEVY.] (a) A school 
  2.17  board may annually levy the amounts necessary to provide 
  2.18  transportation services to students facing hazardous 
  2.19  transportation conditions.  A district's hazardous 
  2.20  transportation levy must not exceed 20 percent of the district's 
  2.21  total regular to and from school transportation costs for that 
  2.22  year. 
  2.23     (b) For any year, a school board may levy the hazardous 
  2.24  transportation levy authorized in paragraph (a) only after the 
  2.25  school board has considered the comprehensive plan for hazardous 
  2.26  transportation submitted by the district's pupil transportation 
  2.27  safety committee at a regularly scheduled meeting of the school 
  2.28  board.  The comprehensive plan may not be adopted until after 
  2.29  the board has allowed the public reasonable time to testify on 
  2.30  the plan. 
  2.31     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for taxes 
  2.32  payable in 2004.