Back to Iowa

SF448 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to department of education school bus driver authorization and approved courses of instruction.(Formerly SSB 1161 .)

A bill for an act relating to department of education school bus driver authorization and approved courses of instruction.(Formerly SSB 1161 .)

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Last action
2026-03-10
Official status
Tabled until future meeting.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to department of education school bus driver authorization and approved courses of instruction.(Formerly SSB 1161 .)

A bill for an act relating to department of education school bus driver authorization and approved courses of instruction.(Formerly SSB 1161 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to department of education school bus driver authorization and approved courses of instruction.(Formerly SSB 1161 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-10 Iowa Legislature

    Tabled until future meeting.

  2. 2026-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/10/2026 8:15AM House Lounge.

  3. 2026-03-03 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Williams, Gosa and Henderson. H.J. 524 .

  4. 2025-04-01 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  5. 2025-03-27 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 04/01/2025 12:00PM House Lounge 2.

  6. 2025-03-26 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Golding, Madison and Sieck. H.J. 852 .

  7. 2025-03-20 Iowa Legislature

    Read first time, referred to Transportation. H.J. 754 .

  8. 2025-03-19 Iowa Legislature

    Message from Senate. H.J. 723 .

  9. 2025-03-19 Iowa Legislature

    Immediate message. S.J. 577 .

  10. 2025-03-19 Iowa Legislature

    Passed Senate , yeas 47, nays 0. S.J. 576 .

  11. 2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 372 .

  12. 2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 364 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to department of education school bus driver authorization and approved courses of instruction.(Formerly SSB 1161 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

448

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

448

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SSB

1161)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

department

of

education

school

bus

driver

1

authorization

and

approved

courses

of

instruction.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

2554SV

(1)

91

th/ns

S.F.

448

Section

1.

Section

321.376,

subsections

1

and

3,

Code

2025,

1

are

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

1.

a.

The

driver

of

a

school

bus

shall

hold

a

driver’s

3

license

issued

by

the

department

of

transportation

valid

4

for

the

operation

of

the

school

bus

and

a

certificate

of

5

qualification

for

operation

of

a

commercial

motor

vehicle

6

issued

by

a

physician

or

osteopathic

physician

licensed

7

pursuant

to

chapter

148

,

physician

assistant,

advanced

8

registered

nurse

practitioner,

or

chiropractor

or

any

other

9

person

identified

by

federal

and

state

law

as

authorized

to

10

perform

physical

examinations

,

and

.

11

b.

If

required

by

the

school

district

employing

the

driver,

12

the

driver

shall

successfully

complete

an

approved

course

of

13

instruction

in

accordance

with

subsection

3

.

14

c.

A

person

holding

a

temporary

restricted

license

issued

15

under

chapter

321J

shall

be

prohibited

from

operating

a

school

16

bus.

17

3.

a.

A

person

applying

for

employment

or

employed

as

18

a

school

bus

driver

shall

not

be

required

to

successfully

19

complete

a

department

of

education

approved

course

of

20

instruction

for

school

bus

drivers

unless

the

school

district

21

hiring

or

employing

the

person

requires

successful

completion

22

of

such

course.

23

b.

If

a

school

district

requires

successful

completion

of

an

24

approved

course,

the

person

hired

as

a

school

bus

driver

shall

25

complete

the

course

before

or

within

the

first

six

months

of

26

employment

and

at

least

every

twenty-four

months

thereafter.

27

If

an

employee

is

required

to

complete

a

course

and

fails

to

28

provide

an

employer

with

a

certificate

of

completion

of

the

29

required

school

bus

driver’s

course,

the

driver’s

employer

30

shall

report

the

failure

to

the

department

of

education

and

31

the

employee’s

authorization

to

operate

a

school

bus

shall

be

32

revoked.

The

department

of

education

shall

send

notice

of

the

33

revocation

to

both

the

employee

and

the

employer.

A

person

34

whose

school

bus

authorization

has

been

revoked

under

this

35

-1-

LSB

2554SV

(1)

91

th/ns

1/

2

S.F.

448

section

subsection

shall

not

be

issued

another

authorization

1

until

certification

of

the

completion

of

an

approved

school

bus

2

driver’s

course

is

received

by

the

department

of

education

,

or

3

until

the

person

is

employed

by

a

school

district

that

does

not

4

require

successful

completion

of

an

approved

course

and

the

5

person

is

otherwise

in

compliance

with

this

section

.

6

EXPLANATION

7

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

8

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

9

Under

current

law,

a

person

applying

for

employment

or

10

employed

as

a

school

bus

driver

is

required

to

successfully

11

complete

a

course

of

instruction

for

school

bus

drivers

12

approved

by

the

department

of

education

(DE)

before

or

within

13

the

first

6

months

of

employment

and

at

least

every

24

months

14

thereafter.

If

a

school

bus

driver

fails

to

provide

an

15

employer

with

a

certificate

of

completion

of

the

course,

16

the

driver’s

employer

must

report

the

failure

to

DE

and

the

17

employee’s

authorization

to

operate

a

school

bus

must

be

18

revoked.

A

person

whose

school

bus

authorization

has

been

19

revoked

is

prohibited

from

being

issued

another

authorization

20

until

certification

of

the

completion

of

a

course

is

received

21

by

DE.

22

This

bill

exempts

school

bus

drivers

from

being

required

23

to

complete

a

course

unless

the

school

district

employing

the

24

driver

requires

it.

A

school

bus

driver

whose

authorization

25

is

revoked

may

receive

authorization

without

completion

of

26

a

course

if

the

driver

is

subsequently

employed

by

a

school

27

district

that

does

not

require

successful

completion

of

28

a

course,

so

long

as

the

driver

is

otherwise

eligible

for

29

authorization.

30

If

a

school

bus

driver’s

school

district

requires

successful

31

completion

of

a

course,

the

driver

must

comply

with

the

course

32

requirements

under

current

law.

33

-2-

LSB

2554SV

(1)

91

th/ns

2/

2