Isn’t this special?:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 224

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BERRY (Sponsor), KELLEY (127), SHULL, NETH, WILSON, LAUER, CIERPIOT, BROWN, WIELAND, LANT, SOLON, FREDERICK, SWEARINGEN, MCNEIL, MUNTZEL, LOVE, DAVIS, WHITE, CRAWFORD, WOOD, REIBOLDT, ROWDEN, CURTMAN, RICHARDSON AND HOUGHTON (Co-sponsors).

0597L.02I     D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 171, RSMo, by adding thereto three new sections relating to school bus advertisements.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

           Section A. Chapter 171, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto three new sections, to be known as sections 171.400, 171.402, and 171.404, to read as follows:

           171.400. 1. The state board of education shall promulgate rules and regulations authorizing local school boards to lease advertising space on the interior and exterior of school buses. The regulations shall include provisions that:

           (1) Prohibit advertising that contains obscenity, sexual material, gambling, tobacco products, alcohol, political campaigns or causes, public advocacy or lobbying regarding any matters before the legislature or any state agency or governing authority of any local, state or federal political division, or religion;

           (2) Prohibit advertising that promotes the use of drugs or any illegal activity or antisocial behavior;

           (3) Prohibit advertising that contains general content that is harmful, discriminatory, false, misleading or deceptive, not age appropriate or otherwise appropriate for school buses, as determined by the school board of a local school district; and

           (4) Prohibit advertising containing an endorsement, whether actual or implied, by a school district for a product or service.

           2. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2013, shall be invalid and void.

           171.402. 1. The school board of a local school district, in its discretion, may adopt a policy for advertising on the school buses operated in the district, which policy shall comply with the rules and regulations adopted by the state board of education under section 171.400.

           2. All school bus private owners that have legal title to school buses used and operated pursuant to an existing bus service contract with a school district may lease space on their school buses to the school district for the purpose of selling commercial advertisements. In exchange for leasing the space, the school bus owner-operators shall receive ten percent of the total value of the amount of the contract between the school district and the commercial advertiser.

           3. A school district may solicit offers from commercial advertisers for the use of space on the school buses that services its school district. The school district may enter into a lease agreement with a commercial advertiser for the use of any designated advertising space on a school bus that services the school district.

           4. Any contract for advertising shall include the time schedule permitted for placement and removal of the advertisement, the term of the agreement, the rental amount, and the signatures of authorized parties. Such advertising agreements shall be kept on file for a period of five years from the expiration date of the advertisement contract.

           5. In a lease agreement with a commercial advertiser, the school district shall establish the rental amount, schedule, and term. The term of any lease agreement shall not be for a period longer than the time remaining on the school district’s bus service contract with a school bus operator who owns the bus that is the subject of the lease agreement.

           6. A school district shall not enter into a lease agreement with a commercial advertiser that seeks to display an advertisement prohibited by local school board guidelines or section 171.400.

           171.404. 1. All school bus advertisements shall be painted or affixed by decal on a school bus in a manner that does not interfere with state and federal requirements for school bus markings, lights, signs, emergency exits, service doors, windows, and the ventilation area of rear engines.

           2. The commercial advertiser that contracts with the school district for the use of the space for advertising shall be required to pay the cost of placing an advertisement on a bus and for the removal of the advertisement upon expiration of the term of the contract.

           3. No advertisements shall be placed on the front or rear of the school bus.

           4. The amount of space permitted for commercial advertisements on the exterior portion of a school bus shall be limited to eighteen inches from the rearmost portion of the bus and six inches from the window base line, service door or doors, wheel well opening, required lettering, or bus body reflectors. Advertisements will be permitted above the window drip rail leading toward the roof of the school bus.

           5. The amount of space permitted for commercial advertisements on the interior portion of school buses shall be limited to the area above every other window, not to exceed twenty-four inches wide by twelve inches in height. Interior advertisements shall be limited to health and safety-related messages.

[emphasis in original]

You think they’ll run gun ads? Just asking.