Bill to require La. school buses to have A/C, heating fails in the State House

BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) - A measure that would have required each school bus in Louisiana to have air conditioning and heating has failed to pass the Louisiana Legislature. With a 43 to 57 vote, Senate Bill 26 failed to pass the La. House of Representatives, effectively killing the bill in Louisiana’s regular legislative session. SB 26, written by La. Congressional District 6 candidate and current La. Senator Cleo Fields (D-District 14), would have required the governing authority of public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools to equip all new or used school buses with passenger compartment heating and air conditioning systems. SB26 mandates the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to adopt those rules. Those in opposition included La. Reps. Mike Johnson (R-District 27), Gabe Firment (R-District 22) and Chuck Owen (D-District 30), who represent parts of Rapides and Vernon parishes, respectfully. Central Louisiana La. Reps. Ed Larvadain III (D-District 26), Rhonda Butler (R-District 38) and Daryl Deshotel (D-District 28) voted in favor of the measure. KALB reported in August 2023 that over 100 buses across four Cenla school districts went without air conditioning.