Latest news with #MarkTisdel
CBS News
28-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Statewide student cellphone ban attempt fails to win enough Michigan House votes
A second attempt to invoke a statewide ban on cellphone use by students in classrooms has failed in the Michigan legislature. House Bill 4141 was defeated Thursday on a vote of 53 yes, 45 no, 12 not voting. The results were largely along party lines, with Republicans supporting it and Democrats voting down the measure. Given the current membership of 110 lawmakers, 56 votes were needed for passage and moving on to the state Senate. Given the practicalities of the legislative calendar, there will be no statewide changes before classes start for the 2025-26 school year. Cellphone rules regarding student use have so far been handled on a local, case-by-case basis. Republican state Rep. Mark Tisdel introduced a bill calling for restrictions during a previous legislative session, but it didn't get far. With this effort, he timed House Bill 4141's introduction around Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's 2025 State of the State address, in which she called for "commonsense restrictions on phone use during class." The goal of House Bill 4141 was to spell out when a student could have access to cellphones and other personal wireless devices at Michigan's K-12 public schools and academies. Elementary and middle school students would not be permitted to use one during the school day at all. The high school students could have access in between classes, in addition to just before and just after the school day, if they are still on campus. Exceptions would be granted for medically-necessary devices, school-issued laptops, specific tasks assigned by teachers and under emergency situations "as described in an emergency operations plan," the final version of the bill states. Despite a series of amendments, the final version did not get support from House Democrats. Tisdel said his response will be to come back with a stricter list of restrictions. "We're not going to water the bill down to the point of being meaningless," Tisdel said in response to the vote. "So now, we're going to go the other direction and make the bill stronger."
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
School cell phone ban bill introduced in Michigan House
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Michigan House Republicans have reignited efforts to require public schools to crack down on students' use of cell phones, but it remains unclear where these efforts will lead. was introduced last Wednesday and specifically proposes restricting students' use of anything capable of text, email, internet access, voice communication, entertainment, or navigation. These restrictions differ based on student grade level: Students in grades K to 5 would be fully prohibited from having these devices on school grounds. Students in grades 6 to 8 are allowed to have them on school grounds but can not use them during instructional time, breaks between instructional time, lunch, or recess. Students in grades 9 to 12 would be banned from using them during instructional time only. A potential school cell phone ban was considered during the previous legislative session, but nothing was ever signed into law. This time, while the bill was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, no hearing dates have been set for lawmakers to get the ball rolling. State Rep. Mark Tisdel, one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, says forcing students to check their devices at the classroom door will improve test scores and cut down on bullying and other mental health issues. A major obstacle to the bill? Safety concerns. Parents are worried that if their children's schools were targeted by an active shooter, they would not be able to contact them. However, while Tisdel sympathizes with these concerns, he claims children are actually safer if their parents are not on the phone with them. 'How does that enhance your child's safety?' says Tisdel. 'You want your child's focus on the trained teacher at the head of the classroom.' The effort failed last year, but Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is on board. Several schools in Mid-Michigan have moved to restrict cell phone usage independently of any legislation, including Lansing School District, East Lansing School District, and Williamston Community Schools. 44% of all schools have some policy in place for both middle and high school students. 2025-HIB-4141Download Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan House passes plan to close 'revolving door' of lawmakers, lobbyists
Lawmakers in the Michigan House passed legislation Thursday which would bar themselves from becoming lobbyists for two years after they leave their posts in the Capitol. Along with state lawmakers, House Bills 4062, 4063 and 4064 would ban executive officeholders, including the governor and heads of state departments, from engaging in lobbying for the first two years after they leave office. Lawmakers and officials also would be banned from receiving compensation for lobbying activities. Lobbyists are individuals who advocate for certain interests to government officials, mostly on behalf of groups or organizations. Backers of the plan argue it will crack down on the so-called lawmaker-to-lobbyist pipeline in Lansing. "We have an opportunity to show Michigan's voters the Legislature is not simply a stepping stone for career advancement," Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester, who sponsored HB 4062, said during a speech on the House floor Thursday. The bills passed with wide bipartisan support. Tisdel noted it's not the first time Michigan lawmakers have attempted to prevent their kind from immediately taking lobbyist jobs, saying similar legislation was passed in the House in Jan. 2005, although it didn't become law. Democrats introduced a bill last year to mandate a one-year 'cooling off' period before a former lawmaker could become a lobbyist, but the Legislation didn't advance through the House. A Detroit Free Press/Eye on Michigan investigation last year found lobbyists spent more than $6.3 million on state lawmakers and officials between 2001 and 2023. Current state law doesn't prohibit lawmakers from joining a lobbying firm focused on Lansing after their term ends. Michigan law does prohibit a lawmaker who resigns before the end of their term from registering as a lobbyist for the remainder of the term. In order to become law, the bills passed Thursday will have to advance through the Michigan Senate and be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Public integrity watchdogs have longed panned Michigan's policies for government transparency and accountability. A 2015 report by the Center for Public Integrity gave Michigan an 'F' grade for its lobbying disclosure policies, ranking it 43rd out of 50 states. Most states have some sort of cooling off period for lawmakers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The typical state policy bars lawmakers from becoming lobbyists somewhere from six months to two years after they leave office, the NCSL says, but Florida has the longest cooling off period, prohibiting lawmakers from becoming lobbyists for six years after their term ends. Aside from its lobbying policies, exemptions in Michigan's open record laws also have been scrutinized by transparency groups. The state's Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, allows residents to request records from public bodies. But the state's FOIA law carves out the governor's office and the Legislature, exempting them from public record requests. More: Michigan Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement will step down from Supreme Court Efforts to expand FOIA in Michigan have languished, though. Last year, the Michigan Senate passed bills to subject lawmakers and governor to open record requests, but the measures were never taken up in the House. The Senate made FOIA a priority at the start of the current legislative session in January, again passing measures to expand the law to the governor's office and the state Legislature. Rep. John Fitzgerald, D-Wyoming, introduced an amendment Wednesday to tie-bar the FOIA legislation to the lobbying provisions, meaning one measure could not become law without the other, but the amendment wasn't adopted in the Republican-led chamber. In January, House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said FOIA is unlikely to be a priority for the chamber this session. 'Don't get your hopes up too much,' Hall told a group of reporters in Lansing on Jan. 9, adding ending the 'revolving door' of lawmakers and lobbyists was a bigger issue for him. The bills passed Thursday in the House seeks to slam that door shut. Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan House OKs plan to create 'cooling off' period for lobbying
