IL SB1970

Establishes a grant program through the State Board of Education providing $125,000 vouchers to school districts for purchasing electric school buses, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year

Requires districts to replace an old school bus (2014 model year or older, 66+ passengers, Class C or D) with each electric bus purchased, and the old bus must be scrapped and not resold

Districts are ineligible if they have current or pending applications with the EPA's Clean School Bus Program or Illinois EPA's Beneficiary Mitigation Plan in 2025-2026

Prioritizes Tier 1 and Tier 2 school districts that do not currently have any electric school buses when funding is insufficient to cover all applications

Applications must include current bus fleet information and a plan for maintaining, charging, and storing the electric school bus