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A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT ENCOURAGING SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PURCHASE AND OPERATE SCHOOL BUSES WITH LAP-SHOULDER BELTS; LIMITING LIABILITY UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; CLARIFYING BID LETTING REQUIREMENTS IN RELATION TO LAP-SHOULDER BELTS AND SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION CONTRACTS; DECREASING CERTAIN REGISTRATION FEES FOR SCHOOL BUSES EQUIPPED WITH LAP-SHOULDER BELTS; AMENDING SECTIONS 20-10-125 AND 61-3-529, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND AN APPLICABILITY DATE."

NEW SECTION. Section 1. Limit on liability for lap-shoulder belts on school buses. (1) (a) When a school district meets all of the requirements under subsection (2), the state, the county or counties in which the school district is located, the school district, a school bus driver under contract with a school district, or an agent or employee of the school district is not liable in an action for personal injury by a school bus passenger on a bus equipped with lap-shoulder belts:

(i) because the injured party failed to use or improperly used a lap-shoulder belt; or

(ii) when the injury was caused solely by another passenger's use or nonuse of a lap-shoulder belt in a dangerous or unsafe manner.

(b) A person may recover damages for a personal injury caused by a broken or improperly maintained lap-shoulder belt.

(2) To be eligible for the limit on liability under subsection (1), a school district shall:

(b) require all passengers on a school bus equipped with lap-shoulder belts to use the lap-shoulder belts; and

"20-10-125. Bid letting for contract bus -- payments under transportation contract. (1) Before any contract with a private party for the provision of school bus transportation is awarded, the trustees shall:

(a) secure bids by publishing during a period of 21 days at least three calls for bids in a newspaper of the county that will give notice to the largest number of people of the district or in the official newspaper of the county; the trustees shall let the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, and the trustees shall have the right to reject any and all bids; or

(b) negotiate a new contract with the current school bus contractor, provided the negotiated contract costs do not exceed by more than 12% per year the basic costs of the previous year's contract. Such a negotiated contract can be entered into only at a public meeting of the trustees at which meeting the patrons of the district may appear and be heard. Notice of the meeting must have been published in a newspaper of wide circulation within the district at least 1 week prior to the meeting. Differential costs related to outfitting buses with lap-shoulder belts are not considered part of the basic costs of the previous year's contract and are not subject to the 12% limit.

(2) The provisions of this section for awarding a contract for school bus transportation shall be subject to the provisions of 20-9-204.

(3) The trustees shall not expend any moneys of the district for school bus transportation by a private party or for individual transportation unless:

(b) such contracted services for school bus transportation by a private party have been actually furnished except that the failure to perform may be excused by the trustees for reasons not under the control of the contractor; or

(c) such contracted services for individual transportation have been actually furnished as confirmed by the actual attendance of school by the eligible transportees and recorded on the school attendance records or, in the case of a supervised correspondence course or supervised home study, as confirmed by the trustees; except that the contracted services furnished one way on any school day shall be reimbursed at one-half the daily contract amount."

"61-3-529. Schedule of fees for buses, motor vehicles having rated capacity of more than 1 ton, and truck tractors -- proration -- exemption. (1) (a) There is an annual fee in lieu of property tax imposed on buses, trucks having a manufacturer's rated capacity of more than 1 ton, and truck tractors. The fee is in addition to annual registration fees.

(b) The fee imposed by subsection (1)(a) is not required to be paid by a dealer of buses, trucks, or truck tractors that constitute inventory of the dealership.

(2) Subject to the conditions of subsection (4), the owner of a bus, truck with a manufacturer's rated capacity of more than 1 ton, or truck tractor shall pay a fee in lieu of tax based on the age and manufacturer's rated capacity of the motor vehicle according to the following schedule:

(in years)	16,999 or less	17,000-26,999	27,000-54,999	55,000 or more
1 or less	$117	$167	$284	$375
2	109	150	250	300
3	100	134	220	266
4	92	117	184	242
5	83	109	160	195
6	75	100	134	167
7	66	91	117	147
8	58	83	100	125
9	50	75	92	109
10	41	58	79	92
11-12	33	50	67	76
13-14	28	37	52	61
15-16	25	30	38	47
17-18	18	26	29	36
19-20	13	19	22	26
21 or more	10	12	16	20

(4) (a) The manufacturer's rated capacity for a bus or truck with a manufacturer's rated capacity of more than 1 ton is the manufacturer's rated gross vehicle weight.

(b) The manufacturer's rated capacity for a truck tractor is the manufacturer's rated gross combined weight.

(c) The fee in lieu of tax under subsection (2) must be reduced by 10% for a school bus equipped with lap-shoulder belts.

(5) Except as provided in 61-3-520, the fee in lieu of tax on a motor vehicle subject to this section that is brought or driven into this state by a nonresident person for hire, compensation, or profit must be prorated as determined and paid under 61-3-701.

NEW SECTION. Section 4. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 20, chapter 10, part 1, and the provisions of Title 20, chapter 10, part 1, apply to [section 1].

NEW SECTION. Section 5. Two-thirds vote required. Because [section 1] limits governmental liability, Article II, section 18, of the Montana constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature for passage.

NEW SECTION. Section 7. Applicability. [This act] applies to school years beginning on or after July 1, 2019.

Latest Version of SB 350 (SB0350.01)
Processed for the Web on March 22, 2019 (4:17pm)

Sponsor names are handwritten on introduced bills, hence do not appear on the bill until it is reprinted.