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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah state lawmaker is proposing a bill to allow school districts to put advertisements on their school buses.
Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, says the idea behind HB393 came up after the Jordan School District announced last week it was letting go hundreds of employees as it faces an estimated $30 million budget shortfall next school year.
"If there's a way we can make the transportation department of the Jordan School District self-sufficient, then we can take the money that was currently going to that department and reallocate it some place else and perhaps save some jobs," says Bird.
Bird says the ads on the buses would be screened to make sure they were age appropriate.
"The ads have to be age appropriate. No alcohol, tobacco, or sexual matters can be advertised on a school bus," he says.
Bird says he is aware of some school districts in Texas that have tried selling school bus advertising. He says at least one of them was able to make $250,000 a year.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
