Z-0649.2 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1355
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By Representatives Brumsickle, Cole and Wolfe; by request of Office of Financial Management
Read first time 01/23/95. Referred to Committee on Education.
AN ACT Relating to school bus acquisitions; amending RCW 28A.160.200 and 43.19.637; adding a new section to chapter 28A.160 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to establish a state contract using a sealed competitive process for the purchase of student transportation vehicles (school buses). The goals of this process are:
(1) To reduce the cost of school bus purchases by promoting competition among school bus vendors and by purchasing in volume; and
(2) To establish state-supported purchase prices for school buses purchased by school districts and educational service districts.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.160 RCW to read as follows:
The superintendent of public instruction shall administer a sealed competitive process for the purchase of student transportation vehicles (school buses) in accordance with the provisions of chapter 43.19 RCW as follows:
(1) The superintendent shall annually review school bus purchasing needs and estimate the number of school buses to be purchased by districts during the school year.
(2) The superintendent shall establish a minimum number of school bus categories considering the capacity and type of vehicles necessary for operation of typical Washington school districts. The superintendent shall establish competitive specifications for each category. Competitive specifications shall meet federal motor vehicle safety standards and minimum state specifications for school buses as established in rules adopted by the superintendent of public instruction. Competitive specifications shall also identify options in addition to the minimum specifications. Unless provided in rules adopted by the superintendent of public instruction, all options shall be at district expense and shall not be included in the state-supported purchase price. The superintendent of public instruction shall meet at least annually with districts to review school bus categories and competitive specifications.
(3) After establishing school bus categories and competitive specifications, the superintendent of public instruction shall notify districts and shall solicit district commitments for school bus purchases from the state contract. The superintendent of public instruction shall secure commitments for purchases of at least thirty percent of all estimated school bus purchases and at least fifteen percent of estimated school bus purchases in each category for the school year.
(4) After securing commitments for purchases, the superintendent shall solicit bids or proposals from school bus vendors and select the lowest responsible bid that meets the needs of the state for each school bus category. The superintendent shall facilitate payments to the vendors by districts and delivery of school buses to districts. The selected contract price shall be used by the superintendent of public instruction as the state-supported price for reimbursement under RCW 28A.160.200.
(5) If a district does not fulfill a commitment to purchase from the state contract, the superintendent shall reduce the district's state transportation vehicle reimbursement allocations by twenty-five percent of the amount of the unfulfilled purchase commitment.
(6) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules necessary to implement requirements of this section consistent with the intent of section 1, chapter . . ., Laws of 1995 (section 1 of this act).
(7) As used in this section and RCW 28A.160.200, "districts" means school districts and educational service districts.
(8) Student transportation vehicles purchased under this section are exempt from the requirements of RCW 43.19.637.
Sec. 3. RCW 28A.160.200 and 1990 c 33 s 146 are each amended to read as follows:
The superintendent
shall ((determine the vehicle acquisition allocation in the following
manner:)) reimburse school districts and educational service districts
for student transportation vehicle (school bus) purchases as provided in this
section.
(1) ((By May 1st of
each year, the superintendent shall develop preliminary categories of student
transportation vehicles to ensure adequate student transportation fleets for
districts. The superintendent shall take into consideration the types of
vehicles purchased by individual school districts in the state. The categories
shall include, but not be limited to, variables such as vehicle capacity, type
of chassis, type of fuel, engine and body type, special equipment, and life of
vehicle. The categories shall be developed in conjunction with the local
districts and shall be applicable to the following school year. The categories
shall be designed to produce minimum long-range operating costs, including
costs of equipment and all costs incurred in operating the vehicles. Each
category description shall include the estimated state-determined purchase
price, which shall be based on the actual costs of the vehicles purchased for
that comparable category in the state during the preceding twelve months and
the anticipated market price for the next school fiscal year. By June 15th of
each year, the superintendent shall notify districts of the preliminary vehicle
categories and state-determined purchase price for the ensuing school year. By
October 15th of each year, the superintendent shall finalize the categories and
the associated state-determined purchase price and shall notify districts of
any changes. While)) It is the responsibility of each district to
select and pay for each student transportation vehicle ((to be))
purchased by the district((, each district shall be paid a sum)).
Any district may purchase vehicles from the state contract established under
section 2 of this act, however, purchase commitments made before the state
contract shall be given first priority.
(2) The
superintendent shall reimburse districts based ((only)) on the ((amount
of the state-determined)) category of vehicle, anticipated lifetime of
vehicles of this category, and state-supported purchase price ((and))
for the category plus inflation as recognized by the reimbursement
schedule established in this section as set by the superintendent ((for the
category of vehicle purchased)). Categories and state-supported
purchase prices of vehicles shall be those used in the state sealed competitive
process defined in section 2 of this act.
(((2))) (3)
The superintendent shall develop a reimbursement schedule to pay districts for
the cost of student transportation vehicles purchased after September 1, 1982.
The accumulated value of the payments and the potential investment return
thereon shall be designed to be equal to the replacement ((value)) cost
of the vehicle less its salvage value at the end of its anticipated lifetime.
The superintendent shall revise at least annually the reimbursement payments
based on the current and anticipated future cost of comparable categories of
transportation equipment. Reimbursements to school districts for approved
transportation equipment shall be placed in a separate ((vehicle))
transportation vehicle fund established for each school district under
RCW 28A.160.130. However, educational service districts providing student
transportation services pursuant to RCW 28A.310.180(4) and receiving moneys
generated pursuant to this section shall establish and maintain a separate ((vehicle))
transportation vehicle account in the educational service district's
general expense fund for the purposes and subject to the conditions under RCW
28A.160.130 and 28A.320.300.
(((3))) (4)
In the 1995-96 school year and each year thereafter, state reimbursement
payments shall commence only after the state-supported price has been set
through the state sealed competitive process established in section 2 of this
act.
(5) To the
extent possible, districts shall operate vehicles acquired under this section
not less than the number of years or useful lifetime now, or hereafter,
assigned to the ((class)) category of vehicles by the
superintendent. School districts shall properly maintain the transportation
equipment acquired under the provisions of this section, in accordance with
rules established by the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
If a district fails to follow generally accepted standards of maintenance and
operation, the superintendent of public instruction shall penalize the district
by deducting from future reimbursements under this section an amount equal to
the original cost of the vehicle multiplied by the fraction of the useful
lifetime or miles the vehicle failed to operate.
(((4))) (6)
The superintendent shall annually develop a depreciation schedule to recognize
the cost of depreciation to districts contracting with private carriers for
student transportation. Payments on this schedule shall be a straight line
depreciation based on the original cost of the appropriate category of vehicle.
Sec. 4. RCW 43.19.637 and 1991 c 199 s 213 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) At least thirty percent of all new vehicles purchased through a state contract shall be clean-fuel vehicles.
(2) The percentage of clean-fuel vehicles purchased through a state contract shall increase at the rate of five percent each year.
(3) In meeting the procurement requirement established in this section, preference shall be given to vehicles designed to operate exclusively on clean fuels. In the event that vehicles designed to operate exclusively on clean fuels are not available or would not meet the operational requirements for which a vehicle is to be procured, conventionally powered vehicles may be converted to clean fuel or dual fuel use to meet the requirements of this section.
(4) Fuel purchased through a state contract shall be a clean fuel when the fuel is purchased for the operation of a clean-fuel vehicle.
(5)(a) Weight classes are established by the following motor vehicle types:
(i) Passenger cars;
(ii) Light duty trucks, trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating by the vehicle manufacturer of less than eight thousand five hundred pounds;
(iii) Heavy duty trucks, trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating by the vehicle manufacturer of eight thousand five hundred pounds or more.
(b) This subsection does not place an obligation upon the state or its political subdivisions to purchase vehicles in any number or weight class other than to meet the percent procurement requirement.
(6) This section does not apply to student transportation vehicles purchased under RCW 28A.160.200.
(7) For the purposes of this section, "clean fuels" and "clean-fuel vehicles" shall be those fuels and vehicles meeting the specifications provided for in RCW 70.120.210.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Section 2 of this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
(2) Section 3 of this act shall take effect September 1, 1995.
--- END ---