Senate committee considers leasing school buses

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 4:23 a.m.

Sen. Ernie Adler, D-Carson City, told the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday that he introduced SB37 to maximize the state's resources. The bill would allow cities of fewer than 100,000 to lease school buses that usually sit dormant during the day.

"Carson City is one of the only state capitals in the nation without public transportation," Adler said. "You can't even get groceries in Dayton right now unless you have a car."

But tour bus lobbyist Daryl Capurro said Adler's bill will compete with private tour bus companies.

"Certainly this is a problem for rural areas, but there are other ways to figure out those problems," Capurro said. "This legislation would be changing the nature of what the Legislature provides funds for."

Adler countered that the system would be practical in nature and would not compete with tour buses.

"We wouldn't be competing with private entities because private entities have given up on these areas," Adler added.

Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, asked Adler and Capurro to talk with each other about the possibility of a public-private bus cooperation plan.

Rejecting the proceedings entirely was Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, who asked why current law didn't allow districts to decide how their buses could be used.

"School districts can allow for the multi-use of their facilities, so why not their buses?" Neal asked. "What we have here now is a law that disallows the people who purchase the buses from using them."