Issues & Advocacy

NYAPT has engaged in advocacy for student and school bus safety for many years. We are proud of our impact on many key laws and regulations that govern our school transportation in New York. We believe our efforts help to keep our children and our school bus fleets safe and secure.

As professionals, we accept the responsibility for advocating before and educating public officials objectively and honestly about the needs of school transportation. We take our role as advocates very seriously. The safety and lives of our children are at stake.

We are also intensely aware of the need to identify and execute measures that will make our operations ever more efficient without compromising safety. Our advocacy efforts include recommendations that enhance performance, accountability and cost efficiency.

OFFICIAL NYAPT STATEMENT ON THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET PROPOSAL–Click Here

GOVERNOR’S BUDGET PROPOSAL

The Governor has issued his Executive Budget proposal which will now be reviewed by and negotiated with the State Assembly and Senate. Below are source documents produced by the Governor’s Office and the Division of the Budget as part of the delivery of his Proposal to the Legislature.

The Governor’s budget proposes $1,675.71 Billion for school transportation services. This appropriation is basically a reimbursement to schools for costs incurred in the prior school year (thereby giving Transportation Aid its “expense based aid” classification. This is an increase of $64.02 million over the previous year, and that continues a downward trend in year-to-year increases in school transportation costs and aid. The prior year increase was slightly over $74 million which means that transportation systems in the state showed a $10 million net reduction in costs over the past year.

The Governor’s official documents follow:

Description of Executive Budget Recommendations for School Aid

School Aid Runs (defining aid calculations and including district-level aid details)

District Aid Totals (includes key aid totals by district arrayed by county)

2012 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

The foundation for our advocacy efforts is our annual School Transportation Legislative Agenda which formulates key issues that we believe need to be enacted by the State Legislature and the Governor in the year ahead.

CLICK HERE to review a copy of our 2012 Legislative Agenda.

Letter to Governor Cuomo on Mandate Relief

NYAPT has written to Governor Cuomo advocating for mandate relief measures that would save hundreds of thousands of dollars for the State and local school districts. The position NYAPT has taken is that these measures would result in immediate savings where the results broad-brush measures at Regionalizing transportation services are unknown and longer-term. CLICK HERE to view a copy of the letter to Governor Cuomo on Mandate Relief dated December 28, 2011.

The letter follows up on the REPORT of the Governor’s Mandate Relief Design Team issued December 23, 2011.

BOARD OF REGENTS

Each year, the NYS Board of Regents issues its annual proposal for State Aid to School Districts. This proposal lays out the recommendations of the Regents related to funding that is necessary to enable and assist school districts to meet the academic needs of their students. CLICK HERE for a copy of the Regents 2012-2013 School Aid Proposal.

LEGISLATIVE MEMORANDA

It is a goal of the NYAPT Board of Directors to ensure that NYAPT offers comments on each piece of legislation that comes before the Legislature dealing with school transportation or school bus safety. A matrix of our positions on specific legislative proposals will be published shortly before January 1st so as to be updated as the 2012 Legislative session proceeds.

PUBLIC POLICY POSITIONS

The NYAPT Board of Directors has adopted formal and structured position statements on several issues of importance in the school transportation industry. These statements are statements of principle and policy and do not deal with specific legislative or budgetary proposals. They are intended to provide an industry and New York perspective on issues or emerging trends that affect school bus safety. We encourage the public and the news media to be aware of these positions and to contact our NYAPT office or our membership for further discussion on any or all of these topics. Current updated statements relate to:

For additional information, contact the NYAPT office at 518-463-4937 or our Executive Director at peter@nyapt.org.

CONTACT WITH GOVERNOR, LEGISLATURE AND REGENTS

State Government websites provide valuable and timely information on legislation, key issues, members of the legislature and committee activities. Click on either link to be connected to your State government.