School bus ads bill clears Senate committee

It’s the Meridian School District that wants to allow advertising on school buses, district spokesman Eric Exline told the Senate Education Committee this afternoon, after he was introduced by the bill’s legislative sponsor, Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Meridian. Exline said in the current economic times, “My board, I think like the Legislature, is not that keen on raising people’s property taxes or their taxes generally. So as a school district, we’ve been looking for ways not only to reduce our expenditures, but how to generate revenues.” Some of those things can be done locally, like renting out some of the district’s office space, but this one needs legislative approval, Exline said, because current state rules for school buses don’t allow for ads.

The Meridian School District, the state’s largest, has 280 buses that travel 3 million miles a year, and he estimated that ad sales, if maximized, could bring the district $1.5 million in gross annual revenues, and about $400,000 in net proceeds a year. The school buses still would have to look like school buses, Exline said; the legislation, SB 1111, calls for the State Board of Education to promulgate rules to regulate the school bus ads, including making sure . Exline said at least six states now allow school bus advertising, and several other states are considering it.

Winder told the committee, “We have cut the districts significantly over the past two years. … They’ve come forward with a creative way to try and generate some funds for their district, and I would hope the committee would support that.” The committee then approved the bill on a voice vote, and sent it to the full Senate with a recommendation that it “do pass.”