The Michigan House of Representatives is meeting again this week after a few weeks off for spring break.
According to leadership, priorities include bills to create a pilot program that would adjust Michigan’s standardized testing system.
Currently, a test taken in certain grade levels known as the M-STEP happens once a year. Other grades take other annual assessments.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said once a year isn’t enough. He said the Republican-backed bills would address that concern.
“We’re ensuring that the M-STEP isn't just done at the end of the year, it's done throughout the year so you can benchmark over time and teachers can get involved earlier. I think that's going to be really good legislation this week,” Hall told reporters Tuesday.
The Michigan Department of Education opposed the plan in committee.
Other aspects of the Republican-led education plan include loosening requirements to teach classes and expanding what classes count toward graduation requirements.
Some Democrats voted in favor of some of the bills in the overall plan that have come up for votes so far. At the same time, some Democrats have called the plan not thought out or redundant.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) said he’s still evaluating the entirety of the package. But points to House’ Republicans support for getting rid of the U.S. Department of Education and a shutdown prevention plan that doesn’t include full school spending as examples he says prove Republicans are unserious.
“These are again just ways to take an ax to our budget to continue to find ways to pay for tax breaks,” Puri said.
During his press conference Tuesday, Hall did say to expect a smaller budget going forward. But he denies the cuts would be drastic, claiming Democratic critics are exaggerating.
That’s as road and public safety funding plans that received at least some bipartisan support could rely on money that would otherwise be spent on something else.
Hall said a lot of that money would come from the elimination of some business incentives and the scaling back of special project funding.
“If we can't cut less than 1% percent of the state budget to fund the roads, which is a major priority of everybody, we have the wrong priorities. So, we're moving forward expecting the budget to be smaller than last year. But we're going to set these three priorities: roads, public safety with a public safety trust fund, and education,” Hall said.
Both Hall and Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, have been promoting their competing roads plans. Though Hall noted only his vision has had full bills introduced in the state Legislature.
The pair, however, has been working together on various issues since Republicans re-gained control of the House of Representatives in January. For example, both met with President Donald Trump last week.
Hall said he’s confident that will bring good things to the state.
Hall and Whitmer met with Trump to discuss how to keep invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes and the future of the Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
Hall said Trump made key commitments to Michigan in both those areas.
“I think when they can see Governor Whitmer and the House Republicans unifying around issues. I think it gives them even more confidence that these are the right issues to move forward on,” Hall said.
Meanwhile, Illinois has paused work on an interstate project to prevent the carp from advancing—citing fears the Trump Administration could withhold funding.
Some experts fear the fish could cause irreparable harm to the Great Lakes ecosystem and fishing industry.
