Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

-- H 6118 SUBSTITUTE A
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     LC002314/SUB A/2
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                        S TATE             OF         RHODE               IS L A N D
                                          IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
                                         JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021
                                               ____________
                                                A N     A CT
                     RELATING TO EDUCATION - STUDENT TRANSPORTATION
                  Introduced By: Representatives Amore, and Craven
                  Date Introduced: March 11, 2021
                  Referred To: House Education
     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
           SECTION 1. Section 16-21-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-21 entitled "Health and
  Safety of Pupils" is hereby amended to read as follows:
           16-21-1. Transportation of public and private school pupils.
           (a) The school committee of any town or city shall provide suitable transportation, that may
  include, but is not limited to, pupil transportation vehicles as defined in § 31-22.1-1, to and from
  school for pupils attending public and private schools of elementary and high school grades, except
  private schools that are operated for profit, who reside so far from the public or private school that
  the pupil attends as to make the pupil's regular attendance at school impractical and for any pupil
  whose regular attendance would otherwise be impracticable on account of physical disability or
 infirmity.
          (1) The school committee of any town or city using a pupil transportation vehicle as defined
 in § 31-22.1-1 shall comply with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section, notwithstanding
 the provisions of § 31-22.1-3(6).
          (b) For transportation provided to children enrolled in grades kindergarten through five (5),
 school bus monitors, other than the school bus driver, shall be required on all school-bound and
 home-bound routes. Variances to the requirement for a school bus monitor may be granted by the
 commissioner of elementary and secondary education if he or she finds that an alternative plan
 provides substantially equivalent safety for children. For the purposes of this section a "school bus
 monitor" means any person sixteen (16) years of age or older.
          (c) No school committee shall negotiate, extend, or renew any transportation contract
  unless such contract enables the district to participate in the statewide transportation system,
  without penalty to the district, upon implementation of the statewide transportation system
  described in §§ 16-21.1-7 [repealed] and 16-21.1-8. Notice of the implementation of the statewide
  transportation system for in-district transportation shall be provided in writing by the department
  of elementary and secondary education to the superintendent of each district upon implementation.
  Upon implementation of the statewide system of transportation for all students, each school
  committee shall purchase transportation services for its own resident students by accessing the
  statewide system on a fee-for-service basis for each student; provided, however, that any school
 committee that fulfills its transportation obligations primarily through the use of district-owned
 buses or district employees may continue to do so. Variances to the requirement for the purchase
 of transportation services through the statewide transportation system for non-public and non-
 shared routes may be granted by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education if the
 commissioner finds that an alternative system is more cost effective. All fees paid for transportation
 services provided to students under the statewide system shall be paid into a statewide student
 transportation services restricted receipt account within the department of elementary and
 secondary education. Payments from the account shall be limited to payments to the transportation
 service provider and transportation system consultants. This restricted receipt account shall not be
 subject to the indirect cost recoveries provisions set forth in § 35-4-27.
         (d) No school committee shall negotiate, extend, or renew any school transportation service
 contract unless the contract provides for payments to school bus drivers, attendants, monitors and
 aids for one hundred and eighty (180) days or the length of the contracted-for school year,
 whichever is longer.
         (e) With respect to any contract entered into under this section, a school committee or local
 education agency shall give a preference in contract and/or subcontract awards to the public
 transportation provider that uses electric buses to the greatest extent. This preference shall be given
 equal weight to any other preferences available to vendors.
         (f) With respect to any contract entered into under this section, no school committee or
 local education agency ("LEA") shall take any adverse disciplinary action against any school bus
 driver, attendant, monitor or aid covered by a collective bargaining agreement prior to any
 investigation or action taken by the contracting entity as provided for in the collective bargaining
 agreement. Nor shall the school committee or LEA impose discipline in excess of what is provided
 for in the governing collective bargaining agreement.
         SECTION 2. Section 16-21.1-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-21.1 entitled
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  "Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The
  Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows:
          16-21.1-8. Statewide transportation system for all students.
          (a) Notwithstanding the regional structure created in this chapter, and upon implementation
  of a statewide school transportation system for all students, each school committee shall purchase
  the transportation services for their own resident students by accessing this integrated statewide
  system of transportation on a fee-for-service basis for each child; provided, however, that any
  school committee that fulfills its transportation obligations predominantly through the use of
  district-owned buses or district employees may apply for a variance from the commissioner of
 education, or the commissioner's designee, thereby requesting that its transportation obligations
 continue to be achieved through the use of the buses owned by the district and staffed by district
 employees. All fees paid for transportation services provided to students under the statewide system
 shall be paid into a statewide student transportation services restricted receipt account within the
 department of elementary and secondary education. Payments from the account shall be limited to
 payments to the transportation service provider and transportation system consultants. This
 restricted receipt account shall not be subject to the indirect cost recoveries provisions set forth in
 § 35-4-27. The goals of the statewide system of transportation for all students shall be the reduction
 of duplication of cost and routes in transporting children from the various cities and towns using
 different buses within and between each city and town, the improvement of services to children
 through the development of shorter ride times and more efficient routes of travel, and the reduction
 of cost to local school committees through achieving efficiency in eliminating the need for each
 school district to contract for and provide these transportation services separately.
         (b) There shall be deducted from the final aid payment to each school district any amounts
 owed to the state at the end of the fiscal year for transportation of the district's students under the
 statewide transportation system established pursuant to this section. Districts shall receive monthly
 invoices summarizing the basis of the transportation fees charged. Any such deductions in aid shall
 be transferred to the statewide student transportation services restricted receipt account, as set forth
 in R.I.G.L. § 35-4-27.
         (c) No school committee shall negotiate, extend, or renew any public transportation service
 contract unless the contract provides for payments to school bus drivers, attendants, monitors and
 aids for one hundred and eighty (180) days or the length of the contracted-for school year,
 whichever is longer.
         (d) With respect to any contract entered into under this section, a school committee or local
 education agency shall give a preference in contract and/or subcontract awards to the public
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  transportation provider that uses electric buses to the greatest extent. This preference shall be given
  equal weight to any other preferences available to vendors.
          (e) With respect to any contract entered into under this section, no school committee or
  local education agency ("LEA") shall take any adverse disciplinary action against any school bus
  driver, attendant, monitor or aid covered by a collective bargaining agreement prior to any
  investigation or action taken by the contracting entity as provided for in the collective bargaining
  agreement. Nor shall the school committee or LEA impose discipline in excess of what is provided
  for in the governing collective bargaining agreement.
          SECTION 3. Sections 37-13-1, 37-13-3.1, 37-13-6, 37-13-7, 37-13-8, 37-13-9, 37-13-11,
 37-13-12, 37-13-13, 37-13-13.1 and 37-13-16 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-13 entitled "Labor
 and Payment of Debts by Contractors" are hereby amended to read as follows:
         37-13-1. "Public works" defined. Definitions.
         As used in this chapter:
         (1) "Public works" as used in this chapter shall mean means any public work consisting of
 grading, clearing, demolition, improvement, completion, repair, alteration, or construction of any
 public road or any bridge, or portion thereof, or any public building, or portion thereof, or any
 heavy construction, or any public works projects of any nature or kind whatsoever.
         (2) "School transportation services" means those transportation and related services
 provided for the transportation of public and private students pursuant to §§ 16-21-1 and 16-21-8.
         37-13-3.1. State public works contract apprenticeship requirements.
         Notwithstanding any laws to the contrary, all general contractors and subcontractors who
 perform work on any public works contract awarded by the state after passage of this act and valued
 at one million dollars ($1,000,000) or more shall employ apprentices required for the performance
 of the awarded contract. The number of apprentices shall comply with the apprentice-to-
 journeyman ratio for each trade approved by the apprenticeship council of the department of labor
 and training. To the extent that any of the provisions contained in this section conflict with the
 requirements for federal aid contracts, federal law and regulations shall control.
         The provisions of this section shall not apply to contracts for school transportation services.
         37-13-6. Ascertainment of prevailing rate of wages and other payments --
 Specification of rate in call for bids and in contract.
         Before awarding any contract for public works or school transportation services to be done,
 the proper authority shall ascertain from the director of labor and training the general prevailing
 rate of the regular, holiday, and overtime wages paid and the general prevailing payments on behalf
 of employees only, to lawful welfare, pension, vacation, apprentice training, and educational funds
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  (payments to the funds must constitute an ordinary business expense deduction for federal income
  tax purposes by contractors) in the city, town, village, or other appropriate political subdivision of
  the state in which the work is to be performed, for each craft, mechanic, teamster, laborer, or type
  of worker needed to execute the contract for the public works or school transportation services. The
  proper authority shall, also, specify in the call for bids for the contract and in the contract itself the
  general prevailing rate of the regular, holiday, and overtime wages paid and the payments on behalf
  of employees only, to the welfare, pension, vacation, apprentice training, and education funds
  existing in the locality for each craft, mechanic, teamster, laborer, or type of worker needed to
  execute the contract or work.
         37-13-7. Specification in contract of amount and frequency of payment of wages.
         (a) Every call for bids for every contract in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), to
 which the state of Rhode Island or any political subdivision thereof or any public agency or quasi-
 public agency is a party, for the transportation of public and private school pupils pursuant to §§
 16-21-1 and 16-21-8, or for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and
 decorating, of public buildings or public works of the state of Rhode Island or any political
 subdivision thereof, or any public agency or quasi-public agency and which requires or involves
 the employment of employees, shall contain a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid
 various types of employees which shall be based upon the wages that will be determined by the
 director of labor and training to be prevailing for the corresponding types of employees employed
 on projects of a character similar to the contract work in the city, town, village, or other appropriate
 political subdivision of the state of Rhode Island in which the work is to be performed. Every
 contract shall contain a stipulation that the contractor or his or her subcontractor shall pay all the
 employees employed directly upon the site of the work, unconditionally and not less often than
 once a week, and without subsequent deduction or rebate on any account, the full amounts accrued
 at time of payment computed at wage rates not less than those stated in the call for bids, regardless
 of any contractual relationships which may be alleged to exist between the contractor or
 subcontractor and the employees, and that the scale of wages to be paid shall be posted by the
 contractor in a prominent and easily accessible place at the site of the work; and the further
 stipulation that there may be withheld from the contractor so much of the accrued payments as may
 be considered necessary to pay to the employees employed by the contractor, or any subcontractor
 on the work, the difference between the rates of wages required by the contract to be paid the
 employees on the work and the rates of wages received by the employees and not refunded to the
 contractor, subcontractors, or their agents.
         (b) The terms "wages," "scale of wages," "wage rates," "minimum wages," and "prevailing
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  wages" shall include:
          (1) The basic hourly rate of pay; and
          (2) The amount of:
          (i) The rate of contribution made by a contractor or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third
  person pursuant to a fund, plan, or program; and
          (ii) The rate of costs to the contractor, or subcontractor, vendor or provider which may be
  reasonably anticipated in providing benefits to employees pursuant to an enforceable commitment
  to carry out a financially responsible plan or program which was communicated in writing to the
  employees affected, for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death, compensation
 for injuries or illness resulting from occupational activity, or insurance to provide any of the
 foregoing, for unemployment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance, or accident
 insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for defraying costs of apprenticeship or other similar
 programs, or for other bona fide fringe benefits, but only where the contractor or subcontractor is
 not required by other federal, state, or local law to provide any of the benefits; provided, that the
 obligation of a contractor or subcontractor to make payment in accordance with the prevailing wage
 determinations of the director of labor and training insofar as this chapter of this title and other acts
 incorporating this chapter of this title by reference are concerned may be discharged by the making
 of payments in cash, by the making of contributions of a type referred to in subsection (b)(2), or by
 the assumption of an enforceable commitment to bear the costs of a plan or program of a type
 referred to in this subdivision, or any combination thereof, where the aggregate of any payments,
 contributions, and costs is not less than the rate of pay described in subsection (b)(1) plus the
 amount referred to in subsection (b)(2).
         (c) The term "employees," as used in this section, shall include:
         (1) employees Employees of contractors or subcontractors performing jobs on various
 types of public works including mechanics, apprentices, teamsters, chauffeurs, and laborers
 engaged in the transportation of gravel or fill to the site of public works, the removal and/or delivery
 of gravel or fill or ready-mix concrete, sand, bituminous stone, or asphalt flowable fill from the site
 of public works, or the transportation or removal of gravel or fill from one location to another on
 the site of public works, and the employment of the employees shall be subject to the provisions of
 subsections (a) and (b).; and
         (2) Persons employed by a provider contracted for the purpose of transporting public and
 private school pupils pursuant to §§ 16-21-1 and 16-21-8 shall be subject to the provisions of