George Borrello
State Senator George Borrello and 14 Republicans are asking Governor Kathy Hochul to rescind the electric bus mandate for public schools or commit to fully funding the conversion.
The electric bus mandates were passed in the 2022-23 state budget to help the state meet the lower emissions targets of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The requirements are that new school bus purchases be zero emission by 2027 and all school buses in operation be zero emission by 2035.
Borrello said in a press release, “School officials in my district are all sounding the alarm about the state’s unfunded electric bus mandate and the crushing financial costs it will mean for districts. With the first deadline in just three short years, school officials are deeply concerned about their ability to afford the electric buses and infrastructure upgrades that will be necessary.”
A new, full-size electric bus costs $400,000 to $450,000, which Borrello said is triple the price of a conventional bus which is approximately $130,000. With 45,000 school buses in the state, full conversion by 2035 will cost approximately $20 billion. The cost over and above what school districts already pay for replacement buses is projected to cost between $8 billion and $15 billion statewide.
He said while $100 million in grant funding has been announced to cover 250 buses, that’s not even close to one bus per district. Borrello said the remaining $400 million that will be allocated in future rounds “won’t make a dent in the costs of converting school bus fleets statewide.”
He explained that school officials are also raising concerns over logistical considerations that aren’t accounted for in the electric bus requirement.
Tell hocul to quit trying to impress Biden and take care of her state
No way are electric buses safer or green! The batteries are from child labor produced in China have a 1 year on average life and are toxic to the environment to be disposed of
Use what is being produced here locally providing jobs and certainly cleaner and less expensive all around
Tired of those idiots in power dictating their ideas of how we the taxpayers should live
They only make laws that line their pockets enrich their lifestyles and cause undo havoc loss of rights loss of jobs and raise our taxes!
What a joke