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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 9, 2016 05:25 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Patrick J. Stefano |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Competitive bidding for transportation contracts |
| I am introducing legislation that amends Section 1361 of Act 14 of 1949 (the Public School Code) to require school districts to submit transportation contracts to the competitive bidding process. Under this legislation, when a school district elects to provide transportation to students, it must submit the contract to the competitive bidding process. The proposed contract must be posted on the district’s publicly accessible internet website. The school board must provide public notice of the contract at least 30 days prior to its vote on whether to accept the contract. Parents of students must be allowed to offer public comments on the proposed contract, and no contract may contain a confidentiality clause that prohibits the board or any school under its jurisdiction from making any part of the contract public. The final contract will be subject to the Commonwealth’s Right-to-Know Act. The Pennsylvania Auditor General recently announced that, since 2013, 19 school districts in 11 counties have spent $58.4 million in excess of the state Department of Education reimbursement for transportation costs. In response to this finding, the Auditor General called for legislation that would require all school districts to seek competitive bids for student transportation services. In a time of tight budgets and taxpayer concerns over rising costs, school districts must watch how every dollar is spent. This legislation will ensure that school districts are not overpaying for transportation services. |