New Laws For Safety

State takes action after series that explored 'rogue operators' of school bus industry

By: Mike Davis
Asbury Park Press
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... A pair of bills signed into law Monday [11/08/2021] will close some of the loopholes identified in an award-winning Asbury Park Press and USA TODAY Network investigation into the "rogue operators" of the private school bus industry who regularly out children in danger without penalties.
..... Governor Phil Murphy on Monday [11/08/2021] signed into law A-5818, which will public identify owners of a previously barred school bus contractor and prohibit school boards from awarding contracts to bus contractor and disbarment include violating state law, hiring ineligible or disqualified drivers on failing to perform satisfactorily.
..... The second bill, A-5817, increases the fines for school bus contractors who put unqualified drivers behind the wheel of a school bus, up to a 415,000 fine for third and subsequent offenses. Previous state law covered only general unqualified commercial drivers, including truck drivers. The fines laid out in A-5817 specifically apply to school bus drivers.
..... The bill also states that a contractor cannot claim to have unknowingly broken the law to avoid paying the fine.
..... "With the signing of these bills, all of our kids will be safer as they travel to and from school. Some of the business practices by bad actors in this industry which came to light as we worked on this bill package were truly disgusting and had to be stopped," said Senate Joseph Lagana, D-Paramus.
..... Both bills were passed unanimously by the Senate and Assembly in June.[2021]
..... They were primarily sponsored by Lagana and Senate Patrick Diegnan, Middlesex and Assembly members Dan Benson, D-Mercer, and Lisa Swain and Christ Tully D-Bergen.
..... In October 2020, the USA TODAY Network Atlantic Group published an investigation detailing loopholes in incorporation, inspection and public contact laws that allow questionable operators to skirt laws aimed at keeping children safe on school buses.
.... The investigation showed how some private school bus operators openly flouted sate law and, on the rare occasions when they faced major penalties, simply shifted ownership to a spouse or other family member or changed the name of the company and continue winning millions in taxpayer-funded contracts.
..... The project received the 2020 Lloyd P. Burns Memorial Award for Public Service in the New Jersey Press Association's annual awards contest.
..... Two days after the Network published its investigation, the New Jersey Attorney general's Office charged the owner of F&A Transportation - one of the contractors highlighted in the investigation - with theft by deception and contract fraud for allegedly hiring unqualified bus drivers and failing to preform background checks.
..... The owners, Ahmed Mahgoub and Faiza Ibrahim, were indicted on the charges in September 2021.
..... The USA TODAY Network "has been really important in making this something that's publicized and people know how important it is," said Diegnan, a primary sponsor of the school bus safety bill package.
..... "Right now, school districts are facing a challenge to just getting folks to be bus drivers,: he said.
..... While we obviously have to transport our kids, we have to make sure it's done safety."
..... The legislative package enacted Monday [11/08/2021] only partially address the myriad loopholes identified by the Network.
..... Lagana on Tuesday [11/09/2021] was still hopeful that A-5814, which would establish the position of a school bus safety ombudsman within the Department of Transportation, will get through the Legislature.
..... That ombudsman would be charged with "coordinating enforcement and accountability: between state agencies in charge of student transportation, such as the Motor vehicle Commission, the Education Department and police departments.
..... It passed the Assembly by a 60-13 vote, with two abstentions, in June [2021] but was never voted on in the Senate.
.... "I look forward to working with advocates and my colleagues to get the final bill to the governor's desk during this legislative session," Lagana said.

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