Sen. John Damoose (R-37)

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2023 House Bill 5207 / 2024 Public Act 24

Family law: other; surrogate parenting act; repeal, and establish the assisted reproduction and surrogacy parentage act.

  • Amendment not adopted on March 19, 2024

2023 Senate Bill 271 / Public Act 235

Energy: alternative sources; energy storage, clean energy, and increased renewable energy; set targets for.

  • Amendment not adopted 18 to 20 on Oct. 26, 2023

2023 Senate Bill 474 / Public Act 209

Health: abortion; public health code; amend to reflect repealed abortion laws and make other abortion-related changes.

  • Amendment not adopted 18 to 20 on Oct. 19, 2023

2023 Senate Bill 169 / Public Act 236

Labor: organizations; public employee contact information; require public employers to provide to bargaining representatives.

  • Amendment not adopted 18 to 20 on June 8, 2023

2023 Senate Bill 173 / Public Act 103

Appropriations: school aid omnibus; appropriations in the school aid act for fiscal year 2023-2024; provide for. Amends, adds & repeals (See bill).

  • Amendment not adopted 17 to 20 on May 11, 2023

2023 Senate Bill 178

Appropriations: transportation department; appropriations for fiscal year 2023-2024; provide for.

  • Amendment not adopted on May 10, 2023
  • Amendment not adopted on May 10, 2023
  • Amendment not adopted on May 10, 2023
  • Amendment not adopted on May 10, 2023

2023 House Bill 4166 / Public Act 34

Education: school districts; letter grade system for ranking public schools; eliminate.

Mackinac Center Analysis

Repeals section 1280g (MCL 380.1280g) of the revised school code which includes provisions for holding schools accountable for academic performance. Section 1280g includes the A-F school ranking system known as Michigan School Grades. Michigan School Grades is a standardized system that uses several performance indicators to assess a school’s progress each year. A letter grade is assigned to the school based on its annual performance and reported on the Michigan Department of Education’s website. The purpose of the letter grade system is to report a school’s progress in a manner that is simple and easily understood by the public.

Section 1280g also includes provisions for identifying underperforming schools to be targeted for improvement and monitoring. As part of the improvement process, accountability measures must be developed and implemented for the lowest achieving schools. Charter schools that receive a failing grade for three years in a row are subject to closure based on this provision. In addition, it includes provisions for recognizing schools that are consistently among the highest achieving schools in the state. Removing section 1280g would eliminate a transparent, consistent and reliable system of school accountability and decrease incentives for schools to improve or maintain their level of performance.

  • Amendment not adopted 18 to 20 on May 3, 2023

2023 Senate Bill 12 / Public Act 7

Education: elementary; requirements related to the retention of certain grade 3 pupils; modify.

Mackinac Center Analysis

Modifies section 1280f (MCL 380.1280f) of the revised school code. It removes provisions related to the retention of third grade students who have not achieved grade-level proficiency in reading. Under section 1280f, students who do not receive a score of at least proficient on the state’s grade-three English Language Arts assessment are subject to retention. Section 1280f includes provisions for teachers to work with early literacy coaches and engage in professional development in early literacy development. It also includes provisions for screening and diagnosing reading deficiencies, developing reading improvement plans and appropriate interventions, and assessing student progress towards grade-level reading proficiency. Provisions for engaging parents in a child’s literacy development are also included.

The provisions that these bills remove outline the criteria for a student to advance to fourth grade. By the end of third grade, students must demonstrate reading proficiency on at least one of the approved assessment measures: the state’s grade three English Language Arts test (score must be less than one year behind in grade three proficiency), an alternative standardized assessment approved by the superintendent, or a portfolio of student work samples. Students who do not demonstrate reading proficiency on one of these measures may be required to repeat third grade. Parents may request a good cause exemption from the retention requirement. Criteria for administrator approval of a good cause exemption are outlined. The repealed provisions include extensive intervention strategies that must be implemented to support the literacy development of students retained in third grade. Students who do not meet the criteria for advancing to fourth grade may be retained beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. Removal of the retention provisions from section 1280f would reduce school accountability and incentives that ensure students’ third grade reading proficiency before advancement to fourth grade.

  • Amendment not adopted 17 to 21 on Feb. 8, 2023

2023 Senate Bill 1

Individual income tax: retirement or pension benefits; limitations and restrictions on deductions of certain retirement or pension benefits and revenue distribution to state school aid fund; revise.

Mackinac Center Analysis

Phases in an exemption for pension income from state income taxes.

Upon Senate passage: Exempts $56,961 of pension, social security or other annuity income from state income taxes for single filers and twice as much for joint filers. Increase the amount of income taxes earmarked to school purposes.

  • Amendment not adopted on Jan. 26, 2023
  • Amendment not adopted 18 to 20 on Jan. 26, 2023