“Seatbelts, everyone!”

Ms. Frizzle’s Magic School Bus predates the modern EV era, but no doubt she would have enthusiastically bundled her kids into a Magic Electric School Bus had she been able! After all, a truly magical vehicle would be exhaust-free and put children’s health first.

So what if we told you that Kamala Harris developed a program to roll out magical buses just like these, but hardly anyone knows about it?

In 2019, then-Senator Harris introduced the Clean School Bus Act of 2019, which called for federal funding to electrify school bus fleets. The act didn’t pass then, but two years later, she had an opportunity to try again.

Enter the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Massive in scope, this $1 trillion legislation package has provided funding for public transportation improvements, resiliency upgrades, brownfield cleanups, and more. It sits alongside the Inflation Reduction Act as one of the greatest hits in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Policy Hall of Fame.

And Vice President Harris did the behind-the-scenes work to make it happen.

She led over 150 calls and meetings with lawmakers to get the bill to Biden’s desk, helping it pass 69-30 in the Senate. She also advocated strongly for the inclusion of environmental provisions she’d worked on as a senator, including initiatives around wildfire and drought, lead service lines, and, of course, electric school buses.

So with the BIL’s passage, the $5 billion EPA Clean School Bus Program was born.

To date, the Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $3 billion to replace almost 9,000 buses in over 1,000 school districts. These fully electric, battery-equipped buses promise a multitude of benefits, from cost savings on maintenance and fuel to increased resiliency during outages and periods of high electricity demand. And as the wheels on these buses go round and round, they won’t be creating more pollution—they’ll be supporting cleaner air, helping to curb emissions, and reducing health risks for kids.

Of course, these electric bus rollouts have hit some bumps in the road—that’s to be expected with any transition. But those who are implementing the program are embracing it as a win for climate, a win for community health, and a win for children today and in generations to come. A WIN WIN WIN!

For someone who has been repeatedly criticized for being weak and ambiguous on policy, this story is undeniable proof that Kamala Harris has a strong policy vision and knows how to get legislation passed. It reflects her hope for a better future and her willingness to fight to get there.

If you needed another reason to vote for her, now you’ve got one. So let’s share this story and get as many folks aboard the Kamala Harris Electric School Bus as possible!