Palmesano: Our Schools Should Not Be Guinea Pigs For The Electric Bus Industry

Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning) joined Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C- Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks) and members of the Assembly Republican Conference to call for common-sense reforms to the electric school bus mandate. The mandate was included in the budget that passed in 2022 and would require all school districts in the state to only purchase electric school buses beginning in 2027 and to convert their entire fleets by 2035. Palmesano and his colleagues are calling for legislation that would allow school districts to opt out of this costly and unattainable mandate, he is a co-sponsor of this legislation.

“The electric school bus mandate is the mother of all unfunded mandates,” said Palmesano. “Gov. Hochul and the Assembly and Senate Democrat Majorities have forced upon local school districts a politically driven and costly mandate that has not proven to be reliable, feasible or safe, especially for our more rural school districts in upstate. This mandate was passed without any cost, feasibility or safety analysis. Simply put, our local school districts and property taxpayers cannot afford to buy these unreliable buses. The fact is that the cost of this mandate on local school districts is between $8 billion and $15.25 billion. Vehicle purchases, charging and facility infrastructure and, in many instances, electric grid improvements will be required. I have heard from many local school superintendents who have expressed their strong concerns with this mandate.”

“We need to pump the brakes on the electric school bus mandate now. If we do not reform this now by letting individual districts opt out of the current mandate until we have more information, the benefit of experience and more efficient and less expensive technology, we are putting our schools, students and their families at serious risk and we will be breaking the backs of local property taxpayers across this state at the worst possible time,” said Palmesano.

Palmesano is also blasting the governor and Democrats as hypocritical and using school districts and property taxpayers as guinea pigs for this social experiment, noting the state is not required to convert its heavy-duty fleet to fully electric until 2040, a full five years after schools are forced to comply. Palmesano has sponsored legislation that would delay schools from being forced to begin their fleet conversion until 2045 or until all state agencies have converted their entire medium and heavy-duty fleets themselves. In addition, Palmesano’s legislation would also require the state to conduct a cost, feasibility and safety analysis. It would also require all components and parts used or supplied in zero-emission school buses or infrastructure to be made in whole or substantial part in the U.S. to help ensure the materials being extracted to produce the batteries used to power electric vehicles are not using child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo, slave labor in Uyghur by China or poisoning water, rivers and streams in South American or other countries.

“Gov. Hochul and Democrats’ costly and unreliable electric school bus mandate is hypocritical, makes no sense and is completely out of touch with the concerns and challenges facing our local communities,” said Palmesano. “Our duty in government is to look out for the people and communities we represent. So, the governor and Albany Democrats must be asked and answer these questions:

• How is it fair for the state to force local school districts to convert their entire fleets to fully electric a whole five years before the state must convert its fleet?
• How is it fair that the state can even delay its implementation and full conversion if it is deemed not feasible, but school districts do not have that same luxury?
• How is it fair that schools must be forced to spend tens of billions of dollars to convert to this costly and still unproven technology?
• Why do Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats think it is fair and acceptable to use schools, students and local taxpayers as the guinea pigs for this social experiment?”