Courtesy: M2K/Syntec Seating Solutions

A law to require lap-shoulder seat belts on all new school buses purchased by Texas districts was supposed to go into effect back in September. But KXAN discovered a dramatic cut – almost two-thirds – to the funds that would go toward reimbursing schools that installed the seat belts.

Since then, the Texas Education Agency has restored the full amount… or at least it says it will find enough money for the originally allocated $10 million. This was a program it originally slashed after the governor told all state agencies to reduce their budgets by 5%.

Parents of bus crash victims and survivors fought hard against TEA to make sure the money would be available. But staffers with Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville, who authored the legislation, say, because of the enormous state budget shortfall, once that money runs out, there probably won’t be anymore to dish out for a while.