State Rep. Dave Madsen, D-Steelton, speaks during a February rally. Madsen is proposing a state fund to help pay for schools’ transition to electric school buses.

A state lawmaker wants to create a state program to incentivize Pennsylvania school districts to purchase zero-emission school buses.

Rep. Dave Madsen, D-Steelton, is circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation he is drafting that would create a state-level program to help school districts transition to zero-emission buses. The federal Clean School Bus Program, funded through the bipartisan Inflation Reduction ACt, provides $5 billion over five years through 2026. It’s uncertain if the program will be funded after 2026.

“With the future of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program uncertain, a state-level program in Pennsylvania is crucial to ensure that all school districts can transition to electric school buses,” Madsen wrote. “Without a reliable funding source, Pennsylvania risks falling behind in electric school bus deployment, missing out on job opportunities and long-term cost-savings. Establishing a state program is essential to fill this potential gap and support school districts in covering the additional investments associated with ESBs, such as charging stations and infrastructure upgrades.

School districts already face significant financial and administrative hurdles in transitioning their fleets, making dedicated state support even more critical.”

New York has mandated its school districts begin purchasing zero-emissions buses All school bus purchases must be electric starting in 2027 with the state’s goal to have all school bus fleets be zero emission buses by 2035. But the plan has faced pushback from local school districts as well as Republicans in the state Legislature who say the state’s mandate will drive up costs for school districts while raising doubts about the use of all-electric buses in the cold winter temperatures in the northeast. New York has made money available for school districts, but Republicans say the state’s investment isn’t nearly enough to keep local taxpayers from paying more in school taxes to purchase the electric buses and pay for the charging technology to charge the buses. Because zero emission buses are longer than diesel buses, school districts also have to add on to existing bus garages to accommodate the bigger buses and the necessary charging technology.

Madsen, too, is concerned about costs. Madsen doesn’t give a cost estimate for his grant program, which he said would be administered by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Legislative text hasn’t been drafted yet, but Madsen wrote that the program will provide technical assistance to school districts and grants to help pay for bus purchases, facility upgrades, charging upgrades, staff training and grant writing expenses.

“The upfront costs of charging infrastructure and bus replacement costs make it difficult for school districts to afford the switch, one that could save them in the long run and allow schools to invest back into their classrooms,” Madsen wrote. “ESBs not only have much lower costs of ownership and operation compared to diesel buses, offering opportunities to save money on fuel and maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle, but protect their occupants from the harmful air pollutants that come with diesel exhaust.”