As more and more cities across the country have opted to end photo enforcement programs, the companies that operate red light cameras and speed cameras have desperately sought new business models. One of the most successful of these from a legislative standpoint has been equipping school buses with cameras to entrap drivers. Several states have signed onto the program, and now a member of Congress wants to federalize the school bus ticketing process.
US Representative Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) last month introduced "Kadyn's Act" which would coerce all fifty states to adopt the same school bus fine program recently signed into law in Iowa. A first offense citation would run $250 and multiple tickets could add up to a maximum of $1875 each, with up to a year in jail.
States unwilling to sign on to this steep penalty schedule would lose ten percent of their annual federal highway funding. For California, that would mean a $400 million hit to the budget; Texas would lose $340 million; Florida would be out $200 million and Ohio $140 million. The legislation does not specify whether the penalty is to be issued by a camera, a police officer, or based solely on the accusation of a bus driver.
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