PA Drivers Call to action!
It’s Dead In The Water, Folks, PA Unemployment Lives!
Until They Decide to try Again, That Is…
Pennsylvania school bus drivers – public and private – should be aware that there was a bill in the State House designed to block drivers from collecting unemployment compensation during the summer months.
It was House Bill 128.
That bill was attempting to take away unemployment compensation benefits for school bus drivers that work for contractors across the state. As you know, driving a school bus is a thankless job, and generally underpaid. Drivers depend on those benefits to carry themselves and their families through the summer as well as the extended holiday weeks. Started in southcentral Pennsylvania (Adams County), the bill has the support of six representatives (named below with links) and possibility more. Under the guidelines of “reasonable assurance,” the bill denies drivers from collecting unemployment compensation, but you will continue to pay in.
The bureaucrats who are attempting to get this passed through do not realize the issues that this is going to create, not just for drivers, but for the contractors they drive for, and the districts they contract to. They seem to forget that most school bus drivers make well less than 20K in a whole year, yet we transport the most precious cargo there is…Children.
Do the bureaucrats have any idea, because as stated above, the pay is already low, and to remove the unemployment benefits, a LOT of drivers will go looking for work in other fields. The the question will be “who’s drivng the bus?” How can contractors get new drivers to want to come do the job, when there is generally only 180 days or so of work? It’s my belief that there will driver shortages across the state, and that the bureaucrats have no idea what issues they will be causing.
School bus drivers are no different then penn dot employeees being layed off in the winter time… No different than landscaping… No different than ANY company laying off due to lack of work.
There is a online petition at the link below. PLEASE sign it if you are a Pennsylvania bus driver, or are a PA resident that is reading this.
School Bus Drivers Unemployment Petition
Here is a list of the bureaucrats who divised this bill…By all means, feel free to click their names and send them a e-mail, or if you prefer, pick up the phone and talk to them. Let your voices be heard! Let them know that this bill, H.B.128, is not acceptable, and that you will be voting in the next election.
Representative Ryan P. Aument 717-295-5050
Representative Scott W. Boyd 717-464-5285
Representative C. Adam Harris 717-436-6001
Representative Dick L. Hess 814-623-9097
Representative Rob W. Kauffman 717-264-3943
Representative Daryl D. Metcalfe 724-772-3110
Representative Dan Moul 717-334-3010 (Backed out)
I assume that their phones were ringing off the hook…I got a e-mail from Rep Moul’s office asking me to remove his name from the site because of the bad publicity. I was nice and added backed out beside his name, but he did in fact create the bill, so his name is still here. At least he had the good sense to realize it was not a good move.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please email me by clicking my name…