“Pump the Brakes” was the message state legislators sent to Gov. Hochul Monday in asking her to put off forcing school buses to be electrified until a taxpayer impact study is completed. They were joined by school administrators and transportation experts who expressed concerns about the unrealistic and costly requirements of the state mandate.
School districts would pay nearly three times as much for the electric buses with additional costs required for new infrastructure to support them, the coalition of stakeholders stressed at an Albany rally against the plan. The mandate is a component of the controversial Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which also bans gas stoves and fossil fuel-powered HVAC systems in homes and businesses.
“The zero-emission bus mandate for schools is at present unworkable and fiscally catastrophic,” said David Little, Executive Director of the Rural Schools Association. “While the goal is laudable, issues with feasibility of the vehicles, capacity of the power grid and fiscal commitment by the state all currently prevent compliance.”
“The Albany Democrats continue pushing unrealistic mandates that will cost schools thousands of dollars while simultaneously threatening school aid packages,” noted Assemblyman Doug Smith, a Holbrook Republican, noting that Gov. Hochul’s budget cuts education aid to many Long Island districts. “In my discussions with school administrators and education professionals, they consistently express justifiable concerns about costly, unreasonable mandates handed down by Albany. Instead of allowing schools the opportunity to transition at their own pace into this ‘eco-friendly’ world, it is being forced upon them and damaging schools in the process. As a parent and former educator, I will not stand by and watch this administration target our youth.”
“If the governor doesn’t put a stop to this, it will be the last straw for taxpayers already grappling with the high costs of state mandates and policies that have made New York one of the most expensive places to live in the nation,” said Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano (R,C-Medford), who attended the Pump the Brakes rally along with his Republican colleagues from both houses of the legislature. “From the day they first brought this up, we have been sounding the alarm against these costly mandates. We’re facing billions in taxpayer dollars in added costs.”
In response to the zero-emission mandate, Republican legislators have introduced a bill to delay the onerous mandate on school districts until 2045, or until all state agencies convert their fleets. Additionally, the legislation would:
• Direct the Commissioner of Education to complete a cost-benefit analysis for each school district that considers the costs necessary to comply with the zero-emission school bus mandate and provide an extension to such schools if necessary;
• Repeal the requirement that all school bus fleets in operation must be zero-emission by July 1, 2035; and
• Authorize the Commissioner of Education in consultation with the New York Independent System Operator, utilities, and the Department of Public Service, to override the mandate if it is determined that zero-emission school buses are not feasible for a particular application.
“The consequences seem to get worse by the day while the Albany Democrats keep rushing to implement unreasonable and unworkable energy mandates on all of New York State’s citizens, businesses, communities, manufacturers, farmers, schools, and others,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning). “School districts are facing one of the most expensive mandates they have ever faced. This state is forcing school districts to move, at breakneck speed, to implement a misguided, politically driven climate policy that the state itself has no idea if it is affordable, feasible or reliable.”
“Before the CLCPA mandated the electric school bus requirements, they should have come to people like me who have decades of real experience in this field for input,” said Robert Killeen, a retired public school bus mechanic. “The impacts of these regulations could be catastrophic. We should not be putting the safety of our children and bus drivers at risk just to meet unrealistic and costly climate goals.”
We’re already seeing fires and reliability issues with electric vehicles,” said one concerned parent. “We’ll have our kids riding around in what could potentially be rolling bombs. Tow truck drivers in Florida already refuse to handle electric cars that have been flooded for fear that the lithium batteries will explode,” he said, adding that if the governor really wanted to reduce carbon emissions, she would help people convert to natural gas for home heating.