- House Education Committee Continues Hearings on Republican Education Plan
- House Adopts House Resolution 41 to Stop Presentation of Bills from Last Session
- Transportation Funding Package Gets First Hearing
- Registration Now Open for Behind the Scenes at the Capitol
House Adopts House Resolution 41 to Stop Presentation of Bills from Last Session
On Wednesday, the House adopted House Resolution 41 which directed the Clerk of the House to only present bills to the Governor that pass during this legislative session. This means that the nine bills that were not sent to the Governor before the new session began on January 9, 2025, including House Bill 6058, shall not be presented. HB6058 would have made changes to the hard cap and 80/20 law.
The Resolution passed on a voice vote and was transmitted to the Clerk.
Transportation Funding Package Gets First Hearing
On Tuesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee began hearings on House Bills 4180-4187 which represents the House Republicans’ road funding plan. It would shift funding in the state budget to put $3.2 billion toward transportation funding. It includes, as expected, the removal of sales tax from gas and replaces it with a tax that would be directed toward road funding.
In exchange for removing gas from the sales tax, House Bill 4185 directs $755 million of the sales tax that currently goes to the General Fund to the School Aid Fund. This amount is based on the past three-year average deposit from sales tax on gas. It would create a $755 million hole in the GF but would maintain SAF revenues into the future.
The first hearing included the Michigan Department of Transportation and the bill sponsors explaining the package. Further hearings are expected.
House Education Committee Continues Hearings on Republican Education Plan
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Education continued hearings on the proposed Republican Education Package.
House Bill 4147 would allow funds from the consolidation and infrastructure grant fund to be used by districts to pay for feasibility studies for the consolidation of administrative and other services. This would include superintendent functions, food services, and janitorial and maintenance services.
House Bill 4148 amends election law to establish four geographic districts that would elect seats on the Michigan State Board of Education. Each district would have two members on the State Board. Members would still be nominated by the political parties and be elected by popular vote.
House Bill 4149 (H-1) requires all schools to post a link on their websites to the MI School Data Parent Dashboard for School Transparency. Districts will have to annually share a summary of their school data with parents and legal guardians.
All three bills were approved by the committee and are now before the House for consideration. The committee is expected to bring up the remainder of the package next week.
The House also passed three of the bills in the package this week. House Bill 4150 would remove fees for teacher certifications or renewals, HB 4151 would allow endorsements for any subject area passed on the teacher certification test and HB4153 which would allow local districts to create their own teacher certification. All three bills now go to the Senate for consideration.
Registration Now Open for Behind the Scenes at the Capitol
MASB’s Government Relations Team will be holding our next Behind the Scenes at the Capitol event on May 7, 2025, in Lansing. This day will include a budget update by the House Fiscal Agency and a legislative panel. We have invited the chairs and vice chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees. It’s also a great opportunity to network with fellow school board members.
We encourage you to join us on May 7. Registration is now open.