Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Capitol Report Archives Go to current Capitol Report for links to complete archive. May, 2004 April, 2004 March, 2004 February, 2004 January, 2004 2003-04 Voting Records 2003 2002 2001 2000 |
Cigarette Tax Increase Signed Shift of Funds to School Aid Awaits Governor's Signature New Set of ISD Bills Moving Senate Panel Approves Improved ISD Bills Latest ISD Bill On House Floor Separation from Community College District Sex Education Abstinence Bills Become Law Granholm Vetoes Student Work-Hours Bill Social Studies Task Force Announces Forums may be found on the Legislative Hotline page of this website.  Return to Top Cigarette Tax Increase Signed Governor Granholm has signed House Bill 5632 (Julian, R-Lemon) to become Public Act 164 increasing the cigarette tax from $1.25 to $2.00 per pack. It will also raise the tax on other tobacco products, such as cigars and pipe tobacco, from 20 percent to 32 percent on the wholesale price. For the remainder of this fiscal year, the increase on cigarettes and other tobacco products should raise some $97 million, and $313 million in 2004-05. While the increase will play a major role in helping resolve the state's budget problems, it by no means is the total solution. For the remainder of the current fiscal year, the state still has to close a $150 million shortfall, and for the 2004-05 fiscal year the state still has to struggle with a $1 billion shortfall. Under the new law, the 75-cent increase will go completely to the Medicaid Trust Fund for both the remainder of this fiscal year and next. Return to Top Shift of Funds to School Aid Awaits Governor's Signature On June 14, the House unanimously passed Senate Bill 1194 (Johnson, R-Royal Oak) that would transfer $51 million from the general fund to the school aid fund. The Governor is expected to sign Senate Bill 1194 to help deal with holes in the budget for the 2004 fiscal year and avoid a $28 per pupil cut in school districts' state funding. Return to Top New Set of ISD Bills Moving The House Education Committee is currently working on a new set of ISD bills that would require additional audits of intermediate school districts and that would provide criminal penalties for misusing special education and vocational education funds. The Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel opposes all of these bills. We urge you to contact your state legislators and members of the House Education Committee making them aware of the detrimental effect these bills will have on public education. You can locate and contact your legislator via e-mail from the Legislative Hotline page of this website. Listed below are the highlights of these bills: HB 5475 (Sub. H-2 Draft 2) Bradstreet, R-Gaylord: Requires ISDs to file reports to the state Department of Education with detailed information on their travel, conference, and training expenses; and details on all contracts. The department would be required to post this information on the Internet. HB 5627 (H-1 Draft 1) Ruth Johnson , R-Holly: Tied to HB 5475 to put information being disclosed Form B reported to C.E.P.I. All state aid would be withheld if this provision is violated. HB 5921 (H-1) Ruth Johnson, R-Holly: Requires ISDs to adopt a policy designed to avoid conflicts of interest by officials and employees; prohibit ISD contracts with entities in which a board member, administrator or employee has a financial interest; ban gifts to ISD board members and administrators worth more than $44 in a given month; require that ISDs have a policy against using public money to buy alcoholic beverages, jewelry, gifts, entertainment or sporting event ticket, golf or other recreational activity fees, or illegal items; require ISD contracts with administrators to have a "moral turpitude" clause; and prohibit a member of constituent school district board from also serving on an ISD board. HB 5839 (H-2) Ruth Johnson, R-Holly: Prohibits ISD millage authorizations that have a duration of more than 25 years, and prohibit ISD bond issues from being used for any purpose other than providing facilities for special education or vocational-technical education. ISDs would be required to have annual independent audits done to ensure that bond money has not been used for any other purpose, and if it was, voter approval of the bond millage could be reconsidered in an election if 10 percent of the registered voters in the ISD sign petitions requesting a vote. HB 5850 (Star) Ruth Johnson, R-Holly: Prohibits the use of school district or ISD money for the purchase of alcoholic beverages, jewelry, gifts, tickets for entertainment or sporting events, fees for golf or other recreational activities, or any item that is illegal to purchase or possess. School personnel who violate the ban would be subject to paying restitution, 93 days in jail and a $5,000 penalty. The bill would also make it a felony and require restitution from school personnel who knowingly or intentionally use bonds revenue for a purpose other than the purpose for which the bonds were issued, or who violate competitive bidding requirements for school buildings or repairs. HB 5851 (a) Ruth Johnson, R-Holly: Provides guidelines for the crimes proposed by House Bill 5850 of failing to comply with school competitive bidding processes and improperly using school bond proceeds. Tie barred to House Bill 5850. HB 5457 (H-1 Draft 2) Palmer, R-Romeo: Requires the Department of Treasury to conduct 5 random "performance audits" on Intermediate School Districts every two years replacing their regular audits but at district cost. Return to Top Senate Panel Approves Improved ISD Bills The original ISD five-bill package (HB 4338, HB 4947, HB 5530, HB 5458, and HB 5376) that would overhaul the governance of intermediate school districts was taken up by the Senate Education Committee on June 24. The bills are greatly-improved versions of legislation that Rep. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) first proposed. Before approving House Bill 4338 (Ruth Johnson, R-Royal Oak), the Senate Education Committee removed provisions that would have limited ISD board members to 18 years in office. They also deleted language that would have placed limits on the ability of the Detroit Public School CEO to approve contracts. As reported out of committee, the main bill in the ISD accountability package would:
Return to Top Latest ISD Bill On House Floor House Government Operations Committee Chair Jim Koetje (R-Walker) introduced House Bill 5962, which would give voters the ability to limit the powers of larger Intermediate School Districts. It was on the agenda for their June 1meeting, however, due to intense lobbying it was not taken up because of lack of support. House Bill 5962 was then reassigned to the House Committee on Education on June 2. Under the bill, ISDs that include school districts with 75,000 students or more, would be required to place a ballot issue on the June 2005 school election asking voters whether they want to cease ISD operations and divert all ISD tax revenue to constituent districts. In its current form, House Bill 5962 would affect four ISDs: Kent, Genesee, Macomb, and Oakland. To date, this bill has not been scheduled for a hearing. However, on June 23 the content of House Bill 5962 was inserted into Senate Bill 599 by amendment on the House floor. (Until then, Senate Bill 599 (Basham, D-Taylor) was a relatively innocuous bill to allow school district employees to enroll their children in their district if the family does not live in the district.) Senate Bill 599 could move at any time. Due to approximately 100 MFT&SRP members, ISD employees, board members, and special education parents ascending on the capitol, Senate Bill 599 was not brought up on the House floor. The House Education Committee hearing on Senate Bill 599 was also cancelled. A very special thank you to all members who traveled to Lansing to lobby their legislators. Return to Top Separation from Community College District House Bill 4228 (Gaffney, R-Grosse Pointe) would permit a school district, city, village, or township to separate from a community college district by a majority vote of its electors. The question of separation could be placed on the ballot by resolution of the appropriate governing body or by petition signed by not less than 500 electors of the district, city, village, or township. The separation would be effective on the date of the election or on the date specified in the resolution or petition, whichever was later. If a local jurisdiction separated from the community college district, its territory would no longer be subject to operating taxes levied by the district as of the next succeeding tax year after the effective date of the separation. However, the jurisdiction's territory would remain as a separate assessing unit for the purpose of any outstanding bonded indebtedness of the community college district until it was retired or refunded. House Bill 4228 is currently before the House Higher Education Committee. The Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel oppose this bill because of the detrimental effect it would have the Wayne County Community College, as well as other community colleges throughout the state. Please contact your state legislators in opposition to House Bill 4228. This bill has been on the committee agenda for two consecutive weeks but has had insufficient votes to report it out. However, the Speaker could discharge it from committee to the floor of the House at any time. Return to Top Sex Education Abstinence Bills Become Law Public Act 165 (Senate Bill 943 - Kuipers, R-Holland) requires that public school instruction on HIV, AIDS, and sex education emphasize abstinence, the consequences of sexual behavior, refusal skills, and other content. The bill also would prescribe the membership, terms, and responsibilities of each district's "sex education advisory board." The sex education advisory board shall consist of the following:
In addition, the bill reduces the percentage of State aid a district must forfeit (from 5% to 1%) if it fails to comply with requirements for sex education instruction and includes violations of the advisory board provisions among those subject to the penalty. Under House Bill 5478, a parent or legal guardian who believes a district was out of compliance can file a complaint with his or her district or intermediate district's superintendent. The superintendent has to investigate the complaint and provide a written report to the parent within 30 days. The district has to take corrective action. In the event a parent believes the district still is not in compliance with the law, the bill establishes a process for appealing, first to the intermediate school district and then to the Department of Education. The Department has to track the number of complaints and appeals it received for the 2004-2005 school year and report this information to the Legislature. Through intense lobbying and various work-group efforts by the MFT&SRP and other education organizations, enormous improvements were made in these bills before their passage. Return to Top Granholm Vetoes Student Work-Hours Bill Governor Jennifer Granholm has vetoed Senate Bill 320 (Stamas, R-Midland), that would have relaxed employment standards to allow 16-17 year old students to work up to 22 hours a week, regardless of how much time they spent in school. Existing law prevents students from going to school and working more than a combined 48 hours a week. Senate Bill 320 would have allowed for a combination of 52 work and school hours per week. The MFT&SRP requested this veto as we felt increased pupil work hours would decrease academic performance. Return to Top Social Studies Task Force Announces Forums The State Board of Education's Social Studies Task Force has set five forums to gather public input on the state's social studies standards and curriculum. The events are as follows:
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