Huff's School Bus Ad Bill Dies in Committee

Cash-strapped school districts hoping to transform their buses into rolling billboards won't be allowed to do so.

The Senate Committee on Education today rejected proposed legislation that would have allowed districts to advertise on school buses to generate revenue.

Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), who represents Monrovia in the State Senate, authored Senate Bill 1295. The measure would have enabled districts to provide advertising space on the exterior of their school buses, giving them control of how to spend the revenue raised. 

The vote on the bill was three in favor and two against, with five abstaining.  The four abstentions included four senators who were there in committee when the bill was presented but opted not to enter a vote for or against, said William Bird, a Huff spokesman.  The bill needed a minimum of six votes to pass out of committee.

Huff pointed to Democratic control of the committee as a reason that the bill did not pass and said in a statement that the vote comes after the recent release of a California Taxpayers’ Association report that claimed that the measure “could have resulted in $31 million annually in additional revenues” for schools statewide.

“This is a shortsighted decision by Democrats on the Senate Education Committee,” said the Senate Republican Leader following the vote. “As Democrats base the educational future of our schoolchildren on a tax measure that may or may not get approved this November, we need to lead by finding alternative ways to help protect our teachers and continue to provide a quality education to our children.”

The practice of advertising on the exterior of school buses is permitted in seven states, and similar measures were recently adopted in New Jersey and Utah.

California law allows school districts to sell advertising apace inside of school buses, on the exterior of campus buildings, at lunch tables, in hallways, in school publications such as newspapers and yearbooks, and in sports facilities.

Huff’s push for the legislation comes after a Department of Education study that revealed that 127 school districts in the state are in financial jeopardy because of state budget cuts.  

Huff points to the most recent budget Democrats passed, which includes more than $1 billion in trigger cuts, as one of the chief reasons school districts are struggling fiscally.

Before this fiscal year started July 1, Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers called for the extension of some sales taxes and vehicle license fee hikes to be put on the ballot as a way to prevent some education cuts, but Republican leaders blocked that effort.  

On Dec. 5, Brown unveiled another plan in an open letter to the public that includes a proposal to increase taxes on income earners in the top 2 percent and to hike sales tax by half a cent. That plan was later merged with a similar proposal championed by the California Federation of Teachers and Democratic lawkers.

The proposal calls for a seven-year income tax increase on those making $500,000 a year or more and a quarter-cent sales tax hike that sunsets in 2016. Brown plans to take the measure to the voters.

Huff has said he feels Californians are taxed enough and that he does not support Brown’s plan. 

He said in a statement today that he felt his bill was a solid remedy for school district’s ailing financially.

“We should be providing solutions, not gambling on the future of our children,” said Senator Huff. “My measure provided a new and needed source of funding for our schools at no cost to taxpayers. We are all disappointed in the decision by the Democrat majority.”