Bus Operator Safety and Security Act

This bill falls squarely within Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. Fixed route buses, by their nature, often operate across state lines or substantially affect interstate travel and commerce. The requirement for operator workstations is a reasonable safety regulation, akin to other transportation safety measures that Congress has long enacted under the Commerce Clause. The Necessary and Proper Clause further authorizes Congress to adopt such means as are appropriate to execute its commerce power. As I argued in Federalist No. 23, the national government must possess powers comme…

This bill, if applied to fixed route buses operating exclusively within a single State, would exceed the limited powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not expressly delegated to the United States to the States respectively, or to the people. While Congress may regulate the safety of vehicles engaged in interstate commerce under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, the bill makes no distinction between interstate and intrastate operations. To impose uniform federal requirements on purely local bus workstations would intrude upon the police powers r…

The proposed bill to set requirements for operator workstations on fixed route buses falls within Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce, as buses are instrumentalities of commerce among the states. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, Congress may prescribe safety standards for vehicles engaged in interstate travel to ensure uniformity and prevent obstructions to commerce. The Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) further authorizes such measures as are appropriate to execute the commerce power. However, the Constitution grants only enumerated and limited po…

This bill, which sets requirements for operator workstations on fixed route buses, falls within the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The transportation of passengers by bus across state lines is a form of commerce among the several states, and the safety and design of such vehicles are proper subjects of federal regulation. As established in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the power to regulate commerce is plenary and extends to all instruments of interstate traffic. Moreover, under McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), Congress may employ all means which are appropriate and plainly adapted…