As lame duck picked up steam this week, House and Senate Committees approved almost 200 bills, sending them to the full chambers for potential debate and passage. The House even added a rare Friday session that ended at 10:30 p.m., which is why this is newsletter is so delayed.
We continue to update our lame duck watch list and encourage you to check that for the current status of issues you may be interested in. In this newsletter, we will cover some of the bigger issues that saw movement this week. As always, please contact us if you have questions about these or any other bills.
- House and Senate Each Pass Bills to Amend PA152
- Educational Management Organization Transparency Package Passes Senate
- House Committee Approves FAFSA Bill
- House Moves on Kindergarten Mandate
- Prevailing Wage Fix Passes Senate
- School Safety Package Passes House
- House Passes Vaping and Tobacco Bills
- House Passes Legislation to Cleanup Old MPSERS Reforms
House and Senate Each Pass Bills to Amend PA152
On Thursday, the Senate passed Senate Bills 1129 and 1130 to make changes to Public Act 152 which governs healthcare costs for public employers and their employees. On Friday, the House followed suit and passed House Bill 6058 in an almost identical form.
The bills would raise the cap on how much employers can contribute to employee health coverage costs by about 7%. The cap would increase each year by 3% or the average health care insurance increase, whichever is greater. It would also require all employers to pay at least 80% of the costs. The changes would go into effect upon the negotiation of a new contract or contract renewal. However, if a contract states that its hard cap is defined by PA152, the amount will jump when the law goes into effect.
There are still many details to figure out within these bills, but we do expect a version to be sent to the Governor before the end of the year. Conversations continue with the bill sponsors and the MEA to sort out issues and address concerns. We want to make sure this is done in a fair manner for both employees and our districts.
Educational Management Organization Transparency Package Passes Senate
Early Friday morning the Senate passed a bill package which would create transparency for Education Management Organizations that run charter schools in Michigan. The first two bills, Senate Bills 943 and 944, would require EMOs to provide each of its charter school’s board of directors with a financial statement that includes a description of all fringe benefits for each employee. It would also require an EMO to post the same information as traditional public schools regarding financial statements on the charter school’s website.
The second two, SBs 946 and 947, would set rules around leasing property for a charter school and require authorizers to attend the public board meetings of each school they authorize and provide specific reports to the boards twice a year.
MASB supports the package that will increase transparency on how public tax dollars are being spent in Michigan’s charter schools. These bills are now before the House for potential action next week.
House Committee Approves FAFSA Bill
On Tuesday, the House Education Committee approved Senate Bill 463 (S-3) which makes completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid a graduation requirement. During debate in committee, the bill was amended to make a simple waiver process for students whose parents don’t fill it out, as long as the district makes two good faith attempts to reach the parents and urge completion. Once the district has done that, it will be able to apply a waiver to all students who did not fill it out or whose parent did not file a waiver.
SB 463 is now before the full House for consideration, and we expect final passage next week.
House Moves on Kindergarten Mandate
The House Education Committee also approved Senate Bill 285 on Tuesday. This bill would mandate that all children who turn 5 by September 1 of a year must enroll in kindergarten. Any district that offers first grade would be required to offer kindergarten. A parent may opt to delay enrollment for their child until age 6 if they submit notice to the school district in writing . It also keeps all of the same options a parent has for 1st grade enrollment for kindergarten: public, private or homeschool.
MASB supports the bill and it is now before the full House for consideration. We hope to see passage before the end of session.
School Safety Package Passes House
On Tuesday, the House passed five bills on school safety aimed at common terminology, behavioral assessment teams and a permanent state commission. House Bills 4095 and 4096 would require the Michigan State Police to develop standardized response terminology to be adopted by all schools and used by all law enforcement agencies and the district in an emergency situation.
House Bill 5549 would require schools to create a behavioral threat assessment and management team. The team would include at least a school administrator, mental health professional and a school resource officer or police officer from the jurisdiction of the building. The team will be tasked with a central reporting process and educating staff, students and parents on how to report concerning behavior and what is appropriate to report.
House Bill 5659-5660 would amend the Comprehensive School Safety Plan Act to sunset the current school safety commission and create the School Safety and Mental Health Commission within the Department of State Police.
MASB supports the bills and they are now before the Senate.
Prevailing Wage Fix Passes Senate
This week, the Senate Labor Committee approved and the Senate passed a technical fix to the prevailing wage law that went into effect in February 2024. The original bill intended to grandfather in any bonded project that was approved before the effective date of the new law. Unfortunately, the wording was not clear and a fix was needed.
Senate Bill 1186, sponsored by Sen. John Cherry (D-Flint), clarified the existing language to state that any bond, bond proposal or millage approved before the effective date of the new law, Feb 13, 2024, would not be subject to the state’s prevailing wage. Any project approved after that date will follow the new law.
We appreciate the work to make the clarification and it passed the Senate overwhelmingly. We are hopeful it will get to the Governor before the end of the year.
House Passes Vaping and Tobacco Bills
On Tuesday, the House Committee on Families, Children and Seniors approved the Nicotine and Tobacco Act Package. The package includes House Bill 6002, House Bill 6003, House Bill 6004 and House Bill 6005. This set of bills is the counterpart to a similar youth tobacco package that was passed by the Senate earlier this month and is before the House.
HBs 6002-HB 6003 will require that retailers be licensed to sell nicotine or tobacco products, including vaping products. The licensing also includes the prohibition of selling nicotine or tobacco products to individuals under 21. Fines for a first offense of selling to a minor is up to $100. A second offense is $500, and for a third or consecutive offense is a fine up to $2,500. Also, any individual who sells or furnishes nicotine or tobacco products to minors will also receive fines and penalties.
An amendment was added to allow retailers to sell nicotine or tobacco products at fairs, festivals and farmer’s markets. The bill specifies that an establishment’s license is not transferable to another establishment.
HBs 6004-6005 amends the penalties and sanctions of minors who purchase nicotine tobacco products and vaping products. Currently, minors are subject to the Purchase, Use, and Possession (PUP) laws, which punish minors for buying, using or possessing tobacco products. PUP Laws have been proven to be ineffective and biased.
MASB supports both the Senate and House packages. Late on Friday evening, the House passed its package, sending it to the Senate for consideration. The Senate package remains before the full House. We hope the two will be reconciled and sent to the Governor next week.
House Passes Legislation to Cleanup Old MPSERS Reforms
One of the last action items on Friday night was passage of House Bill 6060 which makes needed changes to MPSERS reforms from 2018. The bill clarifies that a person’s age of retirement will remain the same as it is when the person enters the retirement system. This protects employees from an unexpected change in the age as they plan for retirement. It also removes provisions requiring employers and employees to share any debt costs 50/50 if the system accrues debt and ends a provision that would trigger the closure of the system. Finally, it creates a process to allow employees who are currently in the Defined Contribution system a one-time chance to change to the Defined Benefit system.
The bill is now before the Senate. MASB supports these needed updates and will push to get it done before the end of the year.