Electric school bus program is getting charged up

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May 20, 2022 View in browser   By Jonathan Custodio Presented by the NJ Board of Public Utilities PBS may need to electrify "The Magic School Bus" in a remake pretty soon. A pilot program to determine if electric school buses can viably replace gas-powered vehicles appears to be gaining steam. The Assembly Appropriations Committee has advanced a bill that would require the Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate the operational reliability and cost-effectiveness of setting electric school buses as the default way to transport students. Under the bill, approximately $45 million in grants is evenly spread across three years. That funding would be awarded to at least six school districts and bus contractors annually, spanning North, Central and South Jersey. A duplicate bill is in the Senate. According to a report by Environment New Jersey, the Public Interest Research Group and the Frontier Group, electric buses fitted with the appropriate "vehicle-to-grid" technology could serve as battery storage when not on the road and provide energy grid services, potentially saving school districts money through compensation from electric utilities and system operators. While the cost-saving potential is significant as electric buses can be three times as expensive as diesel-run buses, improved air quality is one of the biggest sticking points of the case for electrification, as The Record's Colleen Wilson notes New Jersey parents' concerns about the fumes' health effects on their children. "We've all been behind a school bus and smelled the odor of diesel and seen the smoke and may have been at our child's bus stop and seen and smelled that, but there's actually an invisible component to it, and the parts of the diesel exhaust that's more likely to get into our lungs are smaller particles," Rutgers University professor and researcher Rob Laumbach said at a press conference. "There's immediate benefit to reducing the impact of diesel."   A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities: New Jersey is on its way toward its goal of 100% clean energy by 2050. And you can help. Find out how New Jersey's Clean Energy Program can help businesses save energy and money with commercial clean energy incentives. High-value incentives and rebates on energy efficient improvements and appliances are also available from your utility company. You'll be saving more than money—you'll be helping to make the Garden State the Greenest State. Visit njcleanenergy.com.   HAPPY FRIDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. We're adding New Jersey political trivia to this newsletter and will shout out one person who correctly answers the question in the following day's edition. Shout out to Shlomo Schorr for correctly answering that Bill Clinton was the first Democrat in 32 years  — since Lyndon Johnson in 1964  — to win a majority of New Jersey's popular vote. Today's question: Which retiring long-time New Jersey senator did former Gov. Jon Corzine succeed in the 2000 election for the U.S. Senate seat?  Send your answers and tips to jcustodio@politico.com. We're here with the latest from Trenton and elsewhere as New Jersey moves ahead in the budget process and the Legislature conducts hearings on Gov. Phil Murphy's spending plan. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ENROLLMENT DIPS — New Jersey public schools enrollment dropped by 18,000 students since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to newly released data from the Department of Education, reports New Jersey Monitor's Sophie Nieto-Muñoz. Spurred by the pandemic, school closures and shifts from in-person learning influenced enrollment decline across the state, with hundreds of parents choosing to pull their kids out of institutions in Passaic, Toms River, Atlantic City and Edgewater. COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported 5,103 confirmed positive Covid-19 tests and eight deaths from the virus today as 10 counties have been labeled as "high" transmission risk by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The state's seven-day case average is up 16 percent from a week ago and 144 percent from a month ago. ON THE BEATS BAIL REFORM LAW STALLS — A bill pushed by several urban mayors that would modify New Jersey's bail law to keep many people arrested on gun charges locked up has stalled in a Senate committee. The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee had been slated to hear the measure, NJ S513 (22R), Thursday morning, but committee Chair Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) pulled it from the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. An amended version of the bill passed the full Assembly in March, 50-27, mostly along party lines. Greenstein said the measure didn't have the votes to advance. The committee's Republican members opposed it, she said, and some Democrats wanted to amend it, though she didn't know the details of the proposed changes. State Sen. Joe Cryan (D-Union), the bill's top sponsor, said in a text message that the gun owners lobby worked "hard" to lobby against the bill. — Matt Friedman MAJOR EPA LOANS — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said today it would provide $221 million in low-interest loans for New Jersey to do 28 water infrastructure projects, including 26 that will improve water quality for nearly 6 million residents and two wastewater treatment plants. The water projects will help remove contaminants, prevent leaks, improve system resiliency and replace lead service lines. The loans come from a federal Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and go to the New Jersey Infrastructure I-Bank. They'll be paired with state money, creating over a half billion dollars in spending on water projects, over 60 percent of which will be in what officials consider to be disadvantaged communities. The money comes thanks to boosted funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law. — Ry Rivard   A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities:   Around New Jersey "Probe could confirm N.J. congresswoman's charges of Republican 'reconnaissance' before Jan. 6," by NJ Advance Media's Jonathan D. Salant: "The leaders of the Jan. 6 committee suggested Thursday there may be evidence to support New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill's allegation that GOP lawmakers gave "reconnaissance" tours of the Capitol a day before the insurrection. "The Republican congressman who filed ethics charges against Sherrill for making her allegation, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., may have actually conducted a tour and has been asked to answer questions about a possible visit, according to Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo." "Assembly panel advances curriculum transparency bill," by New Jersey Monitor's Dana Difilippo: "Discussion at an Assembly education committee hearing Thursday on a bill that would require schools to post health curriculum online devolved into a shouting match over the state's new sex ed standards, with critics warning the standards are not age-appropriate. "The heated hearing came after a similar outcry erupted at a Senate meeting last week on the bill, which is meant to increase transparency around controversial new education standards set to be implemented this fall. "Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden), who chairs the committee, on Thursday repeatedly reminded speakers to stay on topic — transparency — but many ignored her gaveling as they blasted the new standards as 'perverse.'" "Sources: Newark plans to replace first-year principals at Science Park, Vocational," by Chalkbeat Newark's Patrick Wall: "The Newark school district plans to replace the principal of prestigious Science Park High School just one year after he was appointed, according to two people with direct knowledge of the district's plan. "The district is also replacing the first-year principal of Newark Vocational High School, a recently revamped school that has struggled over the past year with violence and absenteeism, according to a person with direct knowledge and the school administrators union. "The changes cut against district officials' stated goal of elevating more men of color to leadership positions, as Science Park will become the third high school in the past year to lose a Black male principal. The turnover also raises questions about how the district supports new principals and whether it gave the two leaders enough time to establish themselves. "'You need more than one year to really get your feet on the ground and do what needs to be done,' said Christine Taylor, a former Newark principal and president of the City Association of Supervisors & Administrators union. 'I think it's patently unfair.'" Odds and ends — Why sail around the world when you can walk? A New Jersey man is in the final stretch of a 7-year trek around the globe. — A lifesize statue of St. Michael stolen in Trenton is recovered in a Philadelphia scrapyard.   A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities: New Jersey is at the forefront of the clean energy revolution. Thanks to the enthusiastic participation of businesses, residents, local government, and many others across the state, New Jersey is well on its way toward reaching Governor Phil Murphy's ambitious goal of 100% clean energy by 2050. But there is still more to be done. Find out how New Jersey's Clean Energy Program can help you save energy and money. Visit njcleanenergy.com to learn about the available commercial and residential clean energy incentives, local government energy audits, and ways to save with high-value incentives and rebates from your local utility company on energy efficient improvements and appliances. You'll be doing a lot more than saving money on your energy bills—you'll be helping to make New Jersey the greenest state on the planet. Start saving right away—visit njcleanenergy.com today!     Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  California Playbook PM  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  New York Playbook PM View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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