SACRAMENTO - Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, has introduced a bill that would help rural school districts replace their pre-1987 buses without raising taxes or reducing other services.

"There's no reason that kids in rural areas should be forever stuck in these polluting old rigs, when safer, cleaner more efficient buses are available," said Berg.

Assembly Bill 1107 follows the mold of previous Berg bills which managed to redirect existing resources to solve problems despite the state's ongoing budget shortfall. She employed similar strategies last year to help improve telephone service to remote communities, and to bring state-of-the-art computers to rural schools.

AB 1107 uses an existing pool of money earmarked to replace pre-1977 buses. Since most of those older rigs are already off the road, Berg's bill would tap the $4.5 million fund to replace pre-1987 buses.

There are currently about 6,000 pre-1987 buses in operation in California. Many of them are used in rural districts, where children are most likely to be dependent on buses to get to school.

"This uses existing funds to help rural school districts replace inefficient, dangerous and polluting old buses," Berg said. "This is very simply about valuing our children. It's a wise investment, and it doesn't add a penny in cost that isn't already there."