School bus safety bill inspired by Fulton County bus crash heads to the Governor's desk

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The MAXSTRONG bill has passed the Indiana Legislature with a final vote of 90-4 in the House.

This sends to the bill to Gov. Eric Holcomb's desk for signature before the bus safety bill becomes law. The bill is aimed at strengthening school bus safety laws in Indiana and was named in honor of Mason, Alivia, and Xzavier, who lost their lives at their Fulton County bus stop last October. 

The new version of the bill allows schools to ask local governments for help to pay for the cameras while still keeping the old language of the bill that increases penalties for stop arm violators, requires more school bus safety questions when obtaining a driver's license and same-side pickups.

The MAXSTRONG bill faced opposition in the House of Representatives last month that weakened it's camera language and took out the requirement for all Indiana school buses to be equipped with stop arm cameras without paying for them first. The original version had schools installing the cameras and being paid later through fines collected from stop arm violators. 

Now, the new version requires schools to pay for the cameras up front then petition later for local governments to pay for the costs of cameras. 

The family of Mason, Alivia, and Xzavier told ABC57's Tiffany Salameh that they are ecstatic about the bill's passing. They've worked hand-in-hand with Senator Randy Head in authoring the bill. 

Read the full, final version of the bill here.