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The House called Wednesday for Utah to use at least some of its from a settlement over emissions cheating by Volkswagen to buy new low-pollution schools buses.
It voted 69-4 to pass HCR5, now on its way to the Senate.
The resolution originally called for using $20 million for school buses out of an expected $32 million coming to Utah from Volkswagen.
But its sponsor, Rep. Steve Handy, R-Layton, removed specific numbers from the resolution at the request of the governor's office and the Department of Environmental Quality while they are reviewing competing proposals for the money.
Now, it calls for replacing "at least a portion of the 433 dirty diesel school buses," which are at least 11 years old in the state, with clean-fuel alternatives.
Handy has pushed such bus replacements for four years, but was never able to identify funding for his proposal.
"I was ready to throw my hands up and give up, until pennies came from heaven" because of the Volkswagen scandal, Handy said.
The money from Volkswagen comes from a $2.7 billion settlement with the federal government for programming its vehicles with diesel engines to fool emissions-testing equipment.
Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, questioned the resolution, saying it could help school districts that dragged their feet on replacing old buses — and hurt those who already acted.
The resolution calls on local school districts who may benefit to come up with a dollar-for-dollar match, which could bring $40 million to buy cleaner buses.