The Michigan House of Representatives voted Wednesday to ban smartphones from public K-12 schools.
The bill would apply to times when students are in class.
State Representative Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) sponsored the bill. He said phones have become too much of a distraction, but districts may not want to address that on their own.
“Every single one of them has some kind of cell phone policy, it’s a question of implementation and enforcement,” Tisdel told reporters after Thursday’s vote. "If you start to enforce and get any parental push back, it can be very easy to say this is not a fight we want to pick today. And that’s why it’s necessary for a statewide standard.”
This is the second time the legislation came up for a vote in the Michigan House this term. Last year, it failed to get across the finish line after Democrats and one Republican voted against it.
This time, the bill passed with wide bipartisan support by a 99-10 margin.
Opponents to the bill have raised local control arguments and concerns about what carveouts there should be for valid uses of phones in schools. The version passed Thursday would create exemptions for medical reasons, lessons that involve devices, or for basic phones that can't download apps or use internet browsers.
State Representative Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) said she appreciated the bill sponsors for working more to get a deal done. She said as a teacher, she has also seen the way phones can cause trouble — and that's especially true for smart phone apps.
“A lot of times kids would get into fights on Snapchat that would turn into actual physical fights during the school day. This would help mitigate that from happening and also help with that addictive nature of a smartphone,” Weiss said.
The bill now goes to the state Senate where a partner bill also needs to be voted on. The ban would take effect for the upcoming school year if signed into law.
Wednesday’s vote was designed to start the year off on the right foot, according to House Republican leadership.
Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) told reporters during a press conference Wednesday to expect big things from the House this year.
“I don’t care that it’s an election year. We’re going to take risks, we’re going to do bold things. We’re going to do very similar to last year. My hope is that we’ll come forward with some very aggressive and needed changes to Michigan law that are going to make life better for people,” said Hall.
Hall said he plans on making affordability a top issue for his chamber. His plan to address it includes policies to lower property taxes, and reduce the cost of healthcare through pricing transparency requirements.
When explaining his goals, Hall referenced the Trump administration and a speech President Donald Trump gave in Detroit a day earlier. Trump called affordability “a fake word by Democrats” while simultaneously saying he would also be working on bringing prices down.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate leadership said it's also going to focus on affordability this year. Speaking to Michigan Public’s It’s Just Politics team, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said it’s been hard to reach common ground with the House.
“I think there are fundamental differences in opinion and perspective, for instance, on what drives energy costs and what tools we have to reduce those costs for your typical household. So I think we will see some competing proposals out there. However, I'm optimistic that we will be able to make the case and really make a difference for people when it comes to their monthly bills,” Brinks said.
