The Legislature’s Transportation Committee voted on May 3 to move forward L.D. 62, An Act to Require Antipinch Sensors on School Bus Doors, sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Golek, D-Harpswell. The vote was unanimous of those present, 9-0 in favor with four members absent.

As amended, the bill would require anti-pinch sensors to be installed in all new school buses starting in 2025. The committee also agreed to ask the Maine Department of Education to recommend installing these devices in the current school bus fleet.

In 2022, two students, one from Auburn and another from Buxton, were caught by their school bus doors and subsequently dragged down the road, according to prepared release.

“With today’s vote by the Transportation Committee, Maine moves one step closer to enhancing the safety of our children on school buses,” Golek said. “This legislation will put into place a common sense measure to ensure incidents like what took place last year in Auburn and Buxton do not happen again.”

The bill will move to the full Legislature for consideration in the coming weeks.

Also last week, Golek presented L.D. 1520 at a public hearing before the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on May 1, which would direct the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to study placing child care facilities in secondary schools.

The study would focus on providing child care to the infants, toddlers and preschool children of school employees, along with other community members as space allows. The study would also explore how facilities could be incorporated to provide a learning environment for child care education and child development courses for secondary school and adult education students.

“Child care is a necessity, not a luxury,” Golek said. “We need to think outside the box to find innovative ways to increase access to affordable child care, which will help Maine families make ends meet and allow our small businesses to recruit and retain a strong workforce. This legislation will bring key stakeholders to the table to study whether adding child care facilities to secondary schools can be part of the solution.”

The Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee will hold a work session on the bill in the coming weeks.

Golek, a member of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee and the Joint Select Committee on Housing, is serving her first term in the Maine House and represents Harpswell and part of Brunswick.