VERY few people presented testimony on the “Big Bucks for Buses Act for 2012” legislation during a public hearing on the bill yesterday evening.
Bill 517-31 was introduced by Sen. Chris Duenas and seeks to lower the Legislature’s budget by $1 million and transfer the remaining funds to the Department of Public Works for its bus operations.
The hearing was presided over by Sen. Rory Respicio, the rules committee chairman, who later issued a statement and called the hearing on the bill a “Republican infomercial.”
During the course of the hearing, however, Duenas read testimony from Gov. Eddie Calvo, expressing support for the measure. Duenas also touched on a similar bill he introduced a few months ago.
“This legislation would translate into $5 million in real cash and allow DPW to go out and alleviate the current problem we have,” Duenas said, referring to the problems with school busses.
Joseph Perez Jr., of the Youth for Youth organization, also expressed his support for Bill 517.
“It will give money for the maintenance repairs and purchases of school busses,” he said, adding that the safety of the children should be of utmost importance to senators.
Another supporter of the measure was Charles Mesa, of Dededo, who said there should be enough busses to transport students to school.
He said the bussing issue should not have had to wait for an election year before being addressed.
“This should’ve been done a long time ago,” he stressed.
The measure was referred back to the committee for further review.
